Milwaukee Mexican Festival Agrees To End Ticket Discount For Mass Attendees

Each year, the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation sponsors a festival, Mexican Fiesta, at Milwaukee's Sumerfest Grounds. As reported by WITI News, in past years the Fiesta offered a steeply discounted admission price to individuals who attended a Catholic Mass held on the festival grounds prior to the opening of the festival. Last year the Freedom From Religion Foundation objected, arguing that this amounts to preferential treatment in public accommodations on the basis of creed-- a violation of Wis. Stat. 106.52(3)(a)(2). It filed a complaint with the state Equal Rights Division. Now the festival has agreed to a settlement in the case including an agreement that "future Mexican Fiesta promotions will not be timed to coincide with times of entry or exit of the annual Mass."