A City Celebrates the Day Sputnik Crashed in Wisconsin

What are the odds a piece of Soviet spacecraft would fall from the sky and land in a Wisconsin town? It’s exactly what happened when a chunk of Sputnik 4 crashed in the middle of the street in front of Manitowoc’s Rahr-West Art Museum in 1962. It’s the only fragment from the five-ton spaceship known to exist after it plunged to earth. 

Today, the city celebrates the unlikely collision between Cold War history and Main Street, U.S.A. with Sputnikfest. It’s a zany, family-friendly event held every year on the Saturday after Labor Day.

“It’s a tongue-in-cheek celebration of what was, frankly, a failure during the space race,” Greg Vadney, museum executive director says. “But it’s also a way of embracing history and saying, ‘Only in Manitowoc.’”

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Listen to the full interview with Greg Vadney here:

The museum itself is housed in a beautiful mansion owned by the city and is celebrating its 75th year as part of the community. Travel + Leisure named it one of “America’s 15 best small-town art museums.” And Vadney says people from around the world visit Manitowoc and the museum throughout the year, and it’s often just to get a glimpse of the space junk.

But the fest really highlights all of it. Reader’s Digest even named Sputnikfest one of the top five “funkiest festivals” in the country, and Vadney says the quirky honor fits. 

“You leave with a memory you never knew you needed,” he laughs.

There are sci-fi costumes and contests – including one for your pets. Past winners have included dogs, guinea pigs, and even a chicken dressed as an astronaut. You’ll also find live music, food, drinks, and a play put on by the local historic theater troupe, The Masquers. They retell the “true story” of Sputnik’s crash with a comic twist.

There’s also the brass ring marking the exact crash site in the middle of the street. The road is closed during Sputnikfest so visitors can safely take selfies on the spot where space history touched down.

So, whether you visit during the fest or any other time, you are still seeing a unique “Slice of Wisconsin.”  

Find more information on Sputnikfest and the museum here.