Violinist, dancer and aerial performer Lindsey Stirling takes over the Bank Five Nine Main Stage at the Wisconsin State Fair on Friday night, bringing a genre-blending stage show built around switching rapidly between violin, singing, dance and aerial performance modes. The West Allis stop lands during the fair's 175th anniversary and puts Stirling back on Wisconsin soil less than a year after a chilly, unforgettable night at Lambeau Field.
Stirling is touring behind her seventh studio album, “Duality,” with Boston synth-rock act PVRIS opening on her 32-date Duality Untamed Tour, according to OnMilwaukee. The pairing isn't just a scheduling coincidence — Stirling has said PVRIS frontwoman Lynn inspired parts of her creative direction, and the two connected through an interview and later went hiking together, eventually writing music together. Beyond that personal connection, PVRIS itself is built around Lynn Gunn, born Lyndsey Gunnulfsen, known for songs like “Snakes” and “Burn It All Down” and her 2023 album “EVERGREEN,” an act that deliberately stepped back from algorithm-driven pop culture to write its newest work, according to Visit Milwaukee.
A Show Years in the Making
Stirling has toured previously with Evanescence and Halestorm, and her fan base skews toward rock listeners who show up for her outdoor performances even in sweltering heat, per the OnMilwaukee interview. Building a tour show takes months, the outlet reports, with Stirling developing themes, songs, costumes and visuals together and relying on Pinterest boards and idea folders throughout the process.
That process nearly included a new aerial silks routine this year. Stirling trained a new silk routine before the tour and spent almost three minutes on it during a full-show rehearsal, but she ultimately cut it in half after finding herself completely exhausted afterward, the outlet notes. She has said the hardest part of tour preparation is switching quickly between performance modes — dancing and playing violin simultaneously, at times even playing upside down — and that she still prefers the aerial hoop over the silks. She trains to perform five shows a week.
The Lambeau Field Connection
Wisconsin isn't unfamiliar territory for Stirling. She performed a six-minute halftime show at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night in November 2024 during the Green Bay Packers' game against the Miami Dolphins, though NBC drew criticism nationally after broadcasting only about 10 seconds of the performance, according to TVLine. Stirling later said her legs went numb performing in the freezing cold that night, per the same outlet, yet she has called the Lambeau experience her favorite Thanksgiving ever and returned to touring the very next day, according to OnMilwaukee.
The connection runs deeper than one halftime show. Stirling's longtime drummer, who has played with her for 15 years, is a Packers fan and an investor and part-owner of the team, with Lambeau Field as his favorite stadium, per the OnMilwaukee interview. Stirling also played the national anthem at Lambeau in 2025.
Tickets, Timing and a Charitable Twist
Doors for Friday's show open at 6:30 p.m. ahead of a 7:30 p.m. start, with reserved seating tickets ranging from $56 to $81 and automatically including same-day general admission to the fair when purchased in advance, according to Visit Milwaukee. The performance takes place on the Bank Five Nine Main Stage, set on the historic Milwaukee Mile race track at Wisconsin State Fair Park, one of the nation's oldest motor racing tracks and the fairgrounds' primary paid venue for national headliners.
Every ticket sold on the tour also contributes $1 toward The Upside Fund, the nonprofit Stirling founded in 2020 following her own family's medical crisis. The fund has helped eliminate more than $17 million in patient medical debt nationwide through partnerships with charities including Undue Medical Debt and Dollar For, according to Shore Fire Media.
The 2026 Wisconsin State Fair runs through August 16 and marks the 175th anniversary of a tradition dating back to 1851, drawing more than a million visitors annually to West Allis. Stirling's global reach extends well beyond the fairgrounds — her 2024 single “Eye of the Untold Her” soundtracked U.S. Olympic gymnast Suni Lee's medal-winning floor routines at the Paris Olympics, and Stirling has built a digital following of more than 14 million YouTube subscribers and nearly 4 billion views since breaking out as a quarterfinalist on “America's Got Talent” in 2010. She has notched four number-one albums on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and her 2017 arrangement of “Carol of the Bells” remains the only instrumental song to reach the Top 10 on Adult Contemporary radio.
Looking ahead, Stirling has said she eventually plans to step back from touring to design and creatively direct shows for other performers, according to OnMilwaukee. For now, Friday's Main Stage set gives Wisconsin fans another chance to see the violin-and-aerial hybrid show up close before that chapter arrives.
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