Vote for you favorite pizza place!

For this month's poll, we want to know what your favorite local tattoo parlor is! If we missed any be sure to let us know and we'll add them to the poll!

Downtown Janesville's beloved Flannelfest will be making its return on Saturday, February 22, 2025, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM, marking the sixth year of this popular winter festival. Presented by Blain's Farm & Fleet, Flannelfest promises another action-packed day filled with craft beer tastings, games, live entertainment, and Wisconsin-themed fun.Tickets for the event go on sale at a special discount on Black Friday, November 29th. Visitors can snag tickets at the lowest price through December 8th by purchasing online at www.janesvilleflannelfest.com.Flannelfest will feature over 100 beers from some of Wisconsin's best craft breweries, with an exciting home brew competition sponsored by The Looking Glass. Attendees will have the opportunity to sample a variety of brews and vote for their favorite.The event isn’t just about beer—there’s plenty of entertainment for everyone. Guests can participate in games like the Lazy Man Run, corn hole, axe throwing, giant pong, hammerschlagen, a derby race, and jousting. For a truly unique experience, live chainsaw artists will also showcase their talents throughout the day.Food trucks and local vendors will be on hand, offering a selection of delicious food and merchandise to purchase.VIP Experience and Ticket OptionsFlannelfest offers a limited number of VIP tickets, providing exclusive perks such as access to a special VIP area at The Venue, a delicious lunch served from 12:00-1:30 PM, a unique VIP brew, live music, and a commemorative souvenir. VIP ticket holders will also enjoy beer tastings, games, a pretzel necklace-making station, and a Flannelfest beer mug and lanyard. VIP tickets are available for $90, and general admission tickets are priced at $45. After December 8th, ticket prices will increase.A Weekend of Fun in Downtown JanesvilleIn addition to the festivities at Flannelfest, several downtown businesses will host their own special events over the weekend, offering more ways to enjoy the season. Special room rates will be available at local hotels for those traveling to Janesville for the event. For more details on the weekend’s schedule and hotel accommodations, visit the Flannelfest website.“We’re excited to welcome back Flannelfest for its sixth year,” said Elaina Szyjewski, Managing Director of Downtown Janesville, Inc. “The event has become a major attraction, bringing people not only from Janesville but from all over Wisconsin. It’s a perfect way to embrace the winter season with friends, enjoy local craft beer, and have fun with unique games and activities.”Flannelfest is a key fundraiser for Downtown Janesville, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the local downtown community.For more information, including ticket purchases and event details, visit www.janesvilleflannelfest.com or email info@downtownjanesville.com.

Hey guys I’m back with a food review of some local eats in the Janesville area! Today I’m at the Bodacious Shops of Block 42 downtown. This is a great spot to visit, they have a coffee house, an olive oil shop, and a salad bar/restaurant all connected in one block of buildings.Today I was at The Bodacious Brew, their coffee house and got a tasty drink and some lunch! I got an iced Match Latte with oat milk, and it hit the spot. I usually make my own Match so I would consider myself picky, but Bodacious never seems to disappoint.For lunch I had their Avocado Toast. This was 2 slices of multigrain bread with avocado, roasted chic peas, pickled red onion, thinly sliced radish, cilantro, and olive oil. I’m always a sucker for any kind of avocado toast, this one was interesting as it had a kick to it. The combination of cilantro, radish, and pickled onion made it a little spicy. It paired nicely with the creamy coolness of the avocado and chic peas. Overall, would recommend giving it a try!I also sat and worked in their upstairs lounge for a few hours and it’s really a great environment to sit and get some work done. If you haven’t made it out to this Bodacious block, be sure to stop in next time you’re downtown!

Hey folks, today we’re getting into a bit of Janesville History and talking about breweries! More specifically the historic Northside Brewery along Rock River. KYLIE BALK-YAATENEN/KBALKYAATENEN@APG-SW.COMThere were many breweries in Janesville from the mid 19th century to probation including the Eagle Brewery, the Jacob Singer Brewery, the Todd and Company Brewery, and the Hodson Brewery. The Hodson Brewery was the first in Janesville but shortly burned down after being struck by lightening. However, the most long lived and successful brewery in Janesville was the City Brewery built around 1855, it was called Buob and Brother from 1874-1880 and is now referred to as the Northside Brewery. This was the largest lager beer producer in Janesville at the time. The brothers that owned it, John and Michael Buob made 3,000 barrels of beer every year. They did end up selling the brewery in 1882 to Gezelschap and Knipp to start a new brewery on the Southside, know as the Buob Brothers South Side Brewery or the M. Buob Brewing Company. They operated until 1906, producing 5,000 barrels of beer each year. They sold to the Croak Brewing Company where they continued to make beer until 1920. After prohibition ended, the brewery was renamed to the Bower City Brewing Company, producing 7,000 barrels a year. However, this was not enough to keep up with competition and the brewery officially closed in 1939. KYLIE BALK-YAATENEN/KBALKYAATENEN@APG-SW.COMSo, what came to be of this historic City Brewery? The Rock County Historical Society and beer historian Robert Bier (above) started an excavation of the old brewery cite in 2015. You can still see the outlines of the building and barrel and machinery stains. Sitting vacant, the building was overgrown and degraded by nature and time and was eventually torn down in the 1940s. They’ve come across artifacts from the brewery such as machine parts, beer bottles, caps, and labels, barrel parts, and rat traps. RCHBBS FacebookThe goal is to recreate the building using as much of the original materials they have and turn it into an educational museum about Janesville’s brewing history. You can currently go there and read informational signs and scan QR codes to learn more about the brewery’s history and see the outline volunteers have restored of the original building. Definitely go check out this fascinating piece of our town’s history! You can also follow the Rock County's Historic Breweries, Bars, and Saloons-RCHBBS Facebook page for updates!Sources: https://www.gazettextra.com/news/local/beer-story-1850s-northside-brewery-re-emerging-along-the-rock-river-in-janesville/article_359153ee-786a-11ef-b5d5-47e2d1df9787.htmlhttps://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AG45BY7CJ4YZKS8B/full/AVXJ6XQ5XLXPY79Ehttps://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AG45BY7CJ4YZKS8B/full/AEC3CFBCAEWZZJ8Rhttps://www.facebook.com/janesvillebreweriesHuge thank you to Mary at the Hedberg Public Library for gathering these resources!

Hey Janesville, I hope you’re hungry because today I’m reviewing O'Riley & Conway's Irish Pub on W Milwaukee St! This is a homey pub that offers a large beer and scotch selection along with traditional pub fare and Irish specialties. They have live music every week and two bars! This place was very cozy with festive lights and rich dark wood decor.I had the Limerick Chicken Sandwich which had a massive chicken breast, a slab of bacon, Wisconsin pepper jack cheese, a herb aioli sauce all on a brioche bun. I also had a heaping side of sweet potato fries. This sandwich was delicious and definitely lasted me a couple meals. The sweet potato fries were on point and devoured very fast. Jake had a Stout along with the Glasgow BLT which consisted of apple bacon, lettuce, tomato, and herb aioli on 9 grain wheat toast. I can't attest to the flavor myself but he had no leftovers and it looked amazing!If you're looking for some local Irish eats be sure to check them out, that's the buzz!

For this month's poll we want to know what your favorite local breakfast spot is! Cast your vote and let us know! If we missed your favorite spot, let us know and we'll add them to the poll!

Hey guys, I’m back with another article on the public art of Janesville! This week we’re talking about the history behind the “Black Hawk” mural downtown by Brooklyn artist Jeff Henriquez. Henriquez has done other notable works around town such as the “In History We Trust” mural. He painted this mural in only 10 days with spray paint. This mural depicts Sauk leader Chief Black Hawk. This was Janesville’s first major artistic tribute to Native Americans. Henriquez had to gather many drawings, paintings, and sculptures of Black Hawk to base this mural off of as there are no real photographs of him. As you can see in the mural Black Hawk is dressed in traditional red cloth and wears a bead and porcupine quill necklace and feather headdress. On the headdress there are two eagle feathers blowing in the wind. On Black Hawk’s left is a great white buffalo. They are known as a good omen as they are extremely rare. Henriquez wanted Blackhawk to proudly look over Janesville’s main street with wisdom “while basking in the glory of the beautiful planes and mountains that belong to him and his people.” The mural was revealed with a Native American ceremony consisting of singing and drumming in 2019. If you want to learn more about Jeff Henriquez go visit the links below but also be sure to take a moment to appreciate this mural next time you’re in town!Artist's website: www.jeffhenriquez.comArtist's Instagram: instagram.com/jeffhenriquezart

Hey folks, I’m back with another piece on Janesville’s rich art history. Today we’re talking about “The Adventurer” Mural covering the Harris Ace Hardware building downtown. It was created during 2021 Art Infusion by David Mark Zimmerman, Milwaukee graphic designer and illustrator who often explores movement, vibrancy, humor, and curiosity in his works. He is also known as Bigshot Robot. This is a huge mural; you can see it from all the way across the river. It being next to the river and bus stations aids in its symbolism of finding adventure in our town but also getting lost on purpose according to Zimmerman. This represents the spirit of the indigenous people who lived in Janesville as well. As Zimmerman dug into Janesville’s history, he said he was “fascinated how the river played such an important part in creating meeting places and connecting paths and trading posts that grew into towns and flourished,” So, he created the explorer seeking their path and purpose to honor our ancestors adventuring spirit. If you want to learn more about David Mark Zimmerman, you can check out his social media and website linked below. Also linked is a recording of Zimmerman reflecting on the piece!website: www.bigshot-robot.comInstagram: instagram.com/bigshotrobotFacebook: facebook.com/BigshotRobotZimmerman speaking on the piece: https://files.idss.com/public/C225/d5c8e37e-6e87-4e97-8c72-a6e92831457e.mp3

Hey Janesville, I’m back with my public art series, this week we’re featuring the “River of Life” mural on the River Street side of the Rock River Charter School. This 100-foot-long mural was painted in 2021 Art Infusion by Cuban-American visual artist from Miami, Ivan Roque. The background was painted with acrylic, and the foreground was painted with spray paint. Overall, it took him 7 days to complete. Roque says the piece is about “the journey we embark on in the pursuit of knowledge wisdom and open mindedness it takes to live a full life.” The flora and fauna in the piece represent this same theme, the owl represents wisdom, the butterflies represent freedom, and the otters represent playfulness and curiosity. Roque says all these traits play an important role in life. Roque uses vines in all his pieces to symbolize connection, along with the obstacles in life we face represented by the thorns that ultimately shape who we are. He wanted this piece to be a sort of stream of consciousness along the wall and also played with the fact that we have a river running through our city. I encourage you all to check out this mural and if you want to learn more about Ivan Roque you can check out the links below!Artist's website: www.ivanroque.comArtist's Instagram: instagram.com/ivanjroqueArtist's Facebook: facebook.com/ivanisforeverlostArtist speaking on the piece https://files.idss.com/public/C225/a7bc3cdb-ce56-4342-9aad-9905b1dd7bdd.m4a

Hello Janesville and welcome back to my public art blog series, this week we’re talking about the “Dancing on the Stars” mural downtown on the Performing Arts Center. The artist behind this mural is Ruben Aguirre, a Chicago based artist who specializes in the intersection of abstraction, formalism, graffiti, and muralism. He made the mural in 2021 Art Infusion. He draws inspiration from typography, geography, and the human body. He has had exhibits at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Hyde Park Art Center, and has a solo exhibit at The National Museum of Mexican Art coming up. He has done commission work for large corporations such as Google, Adidas, Linked IN, and Conde Nast to name a few.In this mural, Aguirre wanted to incorporate the Janesville flag, native plant life, and colors that were representative of the landscape. He created an abstract interpretation of the Janesville flag with a tree and 4 suns representing the tree and 4 stars on the flag. He wanted to have a unique interpretation, making the stars suns, as the sun is a star. He also incorporated exaggerated cattails and some other native plant life and painted the background blue to represent the river flowing through Janesville. As a nod to the Performing Arts Center, he added some ballerinas dancing.If you want to check out more of Aguirre’s work, you can visit his website or Instagram www.theshiftchange.com www.instagram.com/likes_1If you’d like to hear an interpretation of this piece in his own words, you can check it out here! https://files.idss.com/public/C225/d422668d-d640-4e47-88ab-32c861b56e98.m4aAnd of course, be sure to stop and check it out next time you’re downtown!