The history of June Dairy Days in Markesan can be traced backed to 1937, when Markesan celebrated June Dairy Days by giving away free milk at the Farmers State Bank.
In 1959, Markesan celebrated incorporation from a Village to a City with a 3-day celebration featuring a big parade. After that the local businessman’s association adopted the parade and named the event Queen Dollar Days. The parade ended downtown and stores stayed open late so people could shop for deals in downtown Markesan.
In 1964 the event name changed to June Dairy Dollar Days and in 1966 the parade featured Markesan’s own JoAnn Cupery (Norstrom) as Wisconsin's Alice in Dairy Land.
Ten years later in 1976, America celebrated its bi-centennial and Markesan hosted the largest parade in history that featured floats that were asked to come to Madison to be in the State’s bi-centennial parade.
In 1977, Markesan again changed the name of the event and on the second Saturday of June, for over 40 years it has been known as June Dairy Days. The biggest, little celebration in Green Lake County.
