Shrekfest! Shrekfest 2023! This video is me running around Milwaukee on Labor Day Weekend for our 10th Shrekfest, trying to bottle that exact “we weren’t ready” energy that hits the second you step into the chaos. It’s music, games, costumes, people yelling “Eat your onion!”, and me basically acting like a roaming NPC with a mic asking everybody what’s poppin. I talk to folks who’ve been here every year (yes—tenth: 8 in person, 2 online… because, you know, Covid happened), and I’m just soaking in how wild it is that this thing started small in 2014 and now feels global. The big takeaway: for a few hours in one day, we’re genuinely making the world a little better place—through Shrek. I’m not even being dramatic. You’ll see the bands, the crowd, the “HEY NOW, ALL STAR” moment, and then we get to the true test of character: the Onion-Eating Contest. We peel, we count down, we watch tears stream, we wonder who’s gonna barf first, and we check in on NB mid-trauma. It’s a love letter to the festival, the volunteers, and everyone who keeps showing up to make this unifying little swamp miracle real.