We all love summers in Wisconsin, with warmer weather, plenty of outdoor activities and festivals galore.

You can celebrate the start of the season in various locations around the state. This year, a prerequisite to starting the summer is to not be superstitious, because several communities are holding events on Friday, June 13.

Wausau holds a Summer Solstice Kickoff in City Square on that day from noon to midnight. The band, Saturday Night, plays at 6 p.m. and the movie "School of Rock" shows on a 40-foot outdoor screen at 8:30 p.m.

A climbing wall, ice cream and other delicious foods also are available from vendors that line the square.

The New First Night at Big Top Chautauqua is scheduled for June 13. This is the 23rd season under the tent at the base of Mt. Ashwabay.

Warren Nelson and the Blue Canvas Orchestra raise the music and magic of Big Top Chautauqua for the first time without the late, great, bandleader and guitar player Don Pavel and without Big Top stage regular, banjoist Mark "Pete" Nelson. The opening night will be a musical remembrance and pay tributes to the legendary musicians.

Also on Friday the 13th, the first Old Collectibles Car Show is held in downtown Hudson. That show will continue on the second Friday of every month, May through September.

Not all summer kickoff events start June 13. If biking is your thing, Onalaska celebrates the kickoff of summer with the Mind in Motion Bike Tour on June 14.

The event is a one-day bike tour that offers riders a choice of four levels of difficulty: a 1-mile family ride, a 16-mile flat ride, a 31-mile ride with rolling hills and a few longer climbs, and a 62-mile ride with rolling hills and two major climbs. Riders will receive a free T-shirt, rest stop refreshments, sag wagon support and lunch.

Milwaukee is a mecca for outdoor concerts in the summer, but if you travel out-state you'll find some great local concert series on a weekly basis with some fine talent. Such series kick off June 11-13 in Riverside Park in La Crosse, Lake Mills, Jefferson, Monroe and Fitchburg to name only a few.

Flag Day and Father's Day are big parts of early summer in Wisconsin. A Flag Day celebration is held at Highground, the 140-acre memorial for veterans near Neillsville on Saturday, June 14. Highground has been previously featured on OnMilwaukee.com and is truly a must-see for veterans and their loved ones.

You can find Father's Day celebrations around the state. For example, the Father's Day Antique and Classic Car Show is scheduled for June 15 in Wautoma. Special Father's Day tours of the Lincoln-Tallman House in Janesville will be on June 15.

If dad is a baseball fan, Base Ball History Day is at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle on June 14.

Dad can experience old-fashioned baseball, as Old World's 1860s team, the Eagle Diamonds, take on another vintage base ball team. By the way, the Old World people emphasize baseball was originally two words, and they are correct.

If dad likes beer -- and is willing to spend the money on gas for a trip to Eagle River -- the Great Northern Beer Festival is scheduled June 14 from 2 to 6 p.m. More than 20 breweries, mostly from Wisconsin, will be there.

Even though many summer kickoff events are being held June 13-15, the actual summer solstice -- the longest day of the year -- is June 21. The folks in Green Lake celebrate it with the Big Pajama party starting at 10 a.m.

Bed races, live music, clowns, balloons, popcorn, cookies, a "howl at the moon" contest, cutest PJ and cutest bedroom slipper contests and a car show are just some of the features of the events. Special discounts are offered for those people who attend in pajamas.

These are just some of the summer kickoff events around the state. Once we kick off the season, it's pretty much non-stop until the leaves start falling off the trees.