Torchlight Parade for Oktoberfest carries on through rain on Thursday

It may have rained a bit on the parade, but the Torchlight Parade through north La Crosse went on as planned, as the highlight for the first night of Oktoberfest. The hour-long parade was led off by several groups of past and present Fest royalty, followed by dignitaries from other area festivals. Many of the marching bands, including visitors from West Salem and Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau, wore lights on their heads or their uniforms as part of the festivity. The parade was followed by an Oktoberfest party at Copeland Park.

Turned Leaf Festival offers sober Oktoberfest alternative in La Crosse

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- Families gathered at Myrick Park Saturday for the 44th annual Turned Leaf Festival, a substance-free and family-friendly Oktoberfest celebration hosted by the Coulee Recovery Center.

Oktoberfest day 1 offers something for everybody

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- Oktoberfest celebrations got underway early this morning with the annual Senior Breakfast, where the 2026 Oktoberfest Royal Family greeted generations of Fest leaders and attendees.

“Tap That Keg!” Oktoberfest tradition fills the festgrounds

There’s nowhere near enough beer in the Golden Keg for the several thousand people who show up on Friday morning but there’s plenty of Oktoberfest spirit, or Gemutlichkeit, to go around. The Tapping of the Golden Keg marks the “official” start of the fest. People started...

Mac Kiel on city administrator debate, library cuts, and council pay

It’s a bit of a light committee week preview, but there was plenty of city business in La Crosse to discuss with Mac Kiel in studio for The Rick Solem Show. Kiel helped break down what was finally a public meeting on — basically — creating a city administrator position, plus major staff cuts hitting the public library and why council members might have to trim their own expense accounts.

New This Morning: Oktoberfest Ladies Day Luncheon

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- The Oktoberfest Ladies Day Luncheon is a beloved tradition that closes out Oktoberfest weekend every year.

Tunnel Mill, 1871 Engineering Marvel Near Spring Valley

SPRING VALLEY – From the 1850s through the 1870s, Fillmore County had the highest quality and greatest number of grain mills ever built in Minnesota. Yet one, Tunnel Mill north of Spring Valley, stood out from the abundance of area mills due to a unique system to power its operation created by an engineering marvel that was accomplished without the aid of modern instruments.

Riverfront Revolt - La Crosse Center - January 30, 2027

LA CROSSE, WI — The La Crosse Center is turning up the volume once again as Riverfront Revolt returns to La Crosse on Saturday, January 30, 2027, bringing an explosive lineup of rock and metal acts to the Coulee Region. Headlining the 2027 festival is I Prevail, the multi-platinum...

Turned Leaf Festival offers substance-free celebration

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- The 44th annual Turned Leaf Festival will offer a sober, family-friendly alternative to Oktoberfest this weekend at Myrick Park. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and includes a picnic lunch, live music and activities for children, including crafts, face painting and outdoor games.

SEMAC announces grants for local artists

On September 8, 2026, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) Board of Directors awarded 14 Project Support for Individual Artists and Culture Bearers grants, six to emerging artists and eight to advancing artists, for a total of $71,725 in funding to individuals throughout southeastern Minnesota and including four recipients in Winona County:

Destination: Oktoberfest

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – It’s time to point our Jeep Renegade from Pischke Motors towards another Destination, friends! This time, we are off to a celebration of Community… capital C intended! An event that has been staged in La Crosse every year since 1965 (including one year when they served milk and cheese instead […]

6th Annual Winter Roots Festival

The La Crosse Center proudly presents the 6th Annual Winter Roots Festival!. The 6th Annual La Crosse Winter Roots Festival invites locals and visitors to celebrate the best of Wisconsin through live music, local beer, and spirits. Growing bigger than ever, the festival is moving into the La Crosse Center South Hall to make room for an exciting lineup featuring national touring artists Chayce Beckham and Uncle Lucius alongside beloved local and regional favorites.

Turned Leaf Family Festival offers substance free fest alternative

The Turned Leaf Family Festival began 44 years ago as a way for the recovery community to enjoy Oktoberfest. As time passes, it has become a way for more people to take part in a substance free celebration of the fest. On La Crosse Talk with Sean Dwyer, Coulee Recovery...

In the eye of the storm: Jim Reed shares storms through a camera lens

Jim Reed, National Geographic photographer, shared his journey over decades of storm chasing at the Giants of the Great Earth Heritage Center in Spring Grove on Sept. 10. The room of 80 people sat captivated as the Argus freelance photographer shared tales of capturing photos from over 300 storms and showed his favorite photos from his 10 years in Houston County. It all started when he was 8, when he and his mother drove through the outer bands of Hurricane Camille near Mississippi while returning from a Florida vacation. Reed studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and worked in Hollywood, but it was when he went to Wichita, Kansas, to research a possible screenplay that his love for weather came back. “I became a professional filmmaker, writer, photographer, and I quickly realized that all of the productions that we were doing were getting increasingly interrupted by the weather,” Reed said. “I finally just got fed up with it, and I decided to turn my camera up to the sky.” His interest in storm chasing came about after he read an article about it in the Los Angeles Times while still living in California. Reed’s presentation was based around

An old-school party at Pump Up the Jam - Vinyl Night

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – Bust out your dancing shoes and your Saturday night best for Pump Up the Jam – Vinyl Night

78th Applefest concludes with King Apple Parade

Capture the Colors of Fall in Bluff Country

Fall is a favorite time of year for amateur and professional photographers to capture the breathtaking array of colors throughout Bluff County. Snap a picture as the wind softly sends colorful red, yellow, brown, and green leaves drifting to the ground. On a sunny day, fields come alive with brilliant...

Sunday Summary: Local stories carried on VernonReporter.Com over the last week

VIROQUA, Wis. — From Emplify Health’s proposal for a new outpatient campus in Viroqua and Viroqua Area Schools outlining its $1.8 million operational referendum to Sheriff Roy Torgerson defending automated license plate surveillance and county public health officials responding to local measles cases, VernonReporter.Com highlighted a wide array of critical issues across Southwest Wisconsin over the past week. Our reporting captured the Driftless Area in motion, tracking revelations of half a million dollars in past county budget calculation errors, federal oversight demands regarding patient care at the Tomah VA, state regulatory milestones for the Vernon County Landfill expansion, and local community stewardship and educational initiatives. Here is a comprehensive look back at the news we brought you over the past week.

La Crosse (WI) Firehouse Declared Historic by National Register

The National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of culturally important sites, recently added a beloved La Crosse building. La Crosse’s Fire Station No. 4, listed in late August, was originally constructed in 1941 to blend into the existing residential neighborhood — so much so that it was reused as a single-family residence.