Behind the Booth
How MHD’s Inspectors Keep Food Safe During Summer Festival Season
From handwashing stations to hot food safety, this post takes you behind the scenes of Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration to show how the City’s food inspectors work with vendors to keep festival food safe. Learn how the City of Milwaukee Health Department trains vendors, what to look for when choosing where to eat, and why this work matters for public safety and small business success.
A Day of Celebration and Food
By mid-morning on June 19, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive was bustling with activity as hundreds of vendors prepared for Milwaukee’s annual Juneteenth celebration. Recognized as the largest in the country, the event is rooted in community, tradition, and, for many attendees, the food.
To help vendors prepare for the event, the City of Milwaukee Health Department’s (MHD) Consumer Environmental Health (CEH) team hosts an annual in-person training. Held a few weeks before Juneteenth, the session walks vendors through proper food safety practices using a full-scale mock booth, complete with a three-compartment sink, handwashing station, and food storage setup.
Micole Simmons, owner of Country’s Kitchen, said that training made all the difference.
“It was amazing,” she says. “They had a setup with a tent and props, and I just recreated it. I took pictures of the sanitizer, wash, rinse, the travel heating unit with the pot, and the hand washing station.”
Simmons has attended Milwaukee’s Juneteenth celebration her entire life, but 2025 was only her second year as a vendor. Together with her husband and team, they grilled up lamb chops, chicken, and hot dogs for a growing crowd.
“It’s a pleasure to be able to serve the community and hang out and spend time down here,” Simmons said.
Training Day: Inside CEH's Mock Vendor Booth
The 2025 Juneteenth street festival on MLK Drive hosted more than 110 food vendors, making it the largest event CEH oversees all year. That scale makes food safety a top priority.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, the CEH team hosts its in-person food safety training at Northcott Neighborhood House for all registered food vendors.This year, CEH tried something new: a visual demonstration of what a vendor's tent could look like. Staff set up a full-scale mock vendor booth: a 12-by-12-foot tent complete with everything required to operate safely under the city’s food code.
“People learn in different ways,” said Michael Starks, an Environmental Health Coordinator who’s been with MHD since 2005. “Having the tent physically set up gave vendors a clear visual example of what their booths should look like. It was much more effective than handing out a brochure.”
During the training, inspectors guided vendors through the proper setup of handwashing stations, the maintenance of hot and cold food temperatures, and the organization of a three-compartment wash-rinse-sanitize system. CEH staff also distributed printed guides, shared licensing information, and answered a flood of one-on-one questions.
Simmons said the visual demo made all the difference. “It’s better to see than to just hear,” Simmons said.
Linda Halopka-Ivery, general manager of Dave & Buster’s in Wauwatosa, also found the training helpful. While her brick-and-mortar location operates under a different health department, her team received support from CEH specifically for the Juneteenth event.
“The checklist and setup helped a lot, especially for people who had never done this before. I looked at the tent and props they had set up, and I ordered everything (CEH) had while I was at the training," Halopka-Ivery said. "We bought the exact igloo hand washing station and all that.”
According to CEH Director Carly Hegarty, a huge part of CEH's work is service. “We want to ensure vendors feel supported and prepared, not overwhelmed or set up to fail," said Hegarty. "In the food safety world, we often say: 'Educate before you regulate.'”
The Team Behind the Food Stands
In order to get ready for the summer festival season, the CEH team begins planning months in advance. According to Starks, his preparation for Juneteenth began in February. "We work closely with the event organizer, coordinate logistics, and stay in contact with vendors throughout the process," Starks said. "It's a big effort that takes time and lots of coordination."
Juneteenth is one of nearly 100 permitted festivals held across Milwaukee annually. From PrideFest to Bastille Days to farmers markets in every corner of the city, summer is the busiest season for the CEH team. In a typical festival season, CEH conducts roughly 450 inspections.
Inspectors and program staff coordinate with organizers, review vendor lists, confirm licensing, provide training, and conduct inspections at dozens of sites over just a few months. The goal is to inspect each licensee at least once per year, ideally early in their license period, to help establish good practices from the start.
“A lot of the work we do for Juneteenth, we're doing on repeat every weekend between May through October,” said Hegarty, who’s been with MHD since 2012. “We can’t physically be everywhere, but we do everything we can to get vendors what they need to succeed.”
Still, not every vendor is fully compliant. Inspectors acknowledge that despite outreach, challenges remain. CEH uses these trainings and site visits to focus on the highest-risk events and vendors who may need more support or oversight.
CEH staff say they observed fewer violations this year, particularly when it came to handwashing, food temperature control, and sanitizing procedures. In 2024, 59% of all inspections conducted during Juneteenth documented at least one priority violation. In 2025, that number dropped to 44%.
“We saw a real improvement this year, and I think a lot of that came from the training,” said Starks. “Vendors used the mock tent setup as a guide and replicated it in their own booths. That made a big difference in overall food safety.”
Supporting Operators at Every Experience Level
Looking ahead, the CEH team hopes to expand its offerings even further, meeting vendors where they are, based on experience level. Ideas include citywide vendor workshops and quarterly group trainings before summer festival season begins.
When CEH can't be on-site, they focus on inspecting each vendor at least once during the season, aiming to build habits vendors can carry throughout. The team also relies on pre-event education, vendor self-compliance, and targeted spot checks at high-risk events to uphold citywide safety standards.
Beyond festivals, CEH also offers in-house trainings for brick-and-mortar restaurants and free consultation inspections to help food operators address issues proactively.
“It really sucks closing places down,” Hegarty said. “That is probably one of the biggest stresses on all of our staff hearts. CEH certainly wants to protect the public, but we also recognize that these are people’s livelihoods.”
Reflections from the Festival
As the Juneteenth crowds filled MLK Drive, both vendors and inspectors reflected on what it took to get here.
For Simmons, improving her setup strengthened her sense of pride.
“I hope MHD keeps offering the training. They did a great job. It’s only going to get better,” Simmons said.
For Halopka-Ivery, it was about preparation.
“I thought the training added confidence to what people were going to do,” she says. “They’re thinking, ‘I have a tent, I’m grilling corn, what else do I need to do this the right way?’”
What to Look for at Festival Food Stands
Next time you visit a food vendor at a street festival, use these tips below as signs that food is being handled safely. When in doubt, trust your gut. If something seems off, it’s okay to walk away.
Is the vendor’s license posted? If it's not visible, you can ask to see it.
Are the employees using a handwashing station nearby?
Are foods being prepared at safe temperatures (hot foods above 135°F, cold foods below 41°F)?
Is raw food separated from ready-to-eat items?
Are workers wearing gloves when handling ready-to-eat food items?
Are food surfaces (like cutting boards and tables) being cleaned between uses?
Do employees appear sick (coughing, sneezing, etc.)?
Are workers wearing clean clothes and hair restraints (like hats or nets)?
More Food Safety Tips
To learn more about how MHD supports food vendors through training, licensing, and inspections, visit the Consumer Environmental Health team’s webpage or CEH’s Temporary Events webpage.