Rock the Lake brings live music and an Aquanut water ski show to Twin Lakes

The Lake Mary shoreline is about to get loud. Rock the Lake lands at Lance Park in Twin Lakes on Saturday, June 20, from 2 to 8 p.m., and it’s the kind of small-town summer night you plan the rest of your weekend around.

It’s a joint effort between the Twin Lakes Area Chamber & Business Association and Twin Runners. Pack the lawn chairs and find a spot on the grass.

What’s happening at Rock the Lake on June 20

Two bands carry the afternoon and evening. Relativity and The Charley Thornton Band trade high-energy sets, so the music keeps rolling while you’re parked by the water.

And between sets, look to the lake. The Aquanuts run one of their water ski shows right off the Lance Park shoreline, which is reason enough to show up even if you’ve never watched show skiing in your life. (More on them in a second, because their story is better than you’d guess.)

The short version:

• What: Rock the Lake, live music plus an Aquanut water ski show
• When: Saturday, June 20, 2 to 8 p.m.
• Where: Lance Park, on the shore of Lake Mary, Village of Twin Lakes
• Who: presented by the Twin Lakes Area Chamber & Business Association and Twin Runners
• Bring: lawn chairs, the family, sunscreen

Twin Lakes sits about 20 minutes Southeast of Lake Geneva, so this one’s an easy add to a weekend already pointed at the lakes.

50 years of the Aquanuts on Lake Mary

Now the backstory. The Aquanuts aren’t a pickup act the chamber booked for the afternoon. They’re one of the most decorated show ski teams in the country, and they’ve been performing on this exact water for half a century.

The team started in the early 1970s. Their first eight shows ran at Edgewater Beach, and membership dues came to a grand total of $5 a year. In 1974 the Village of Twin Lakes signed off on turning a swampy lot next to Lance Park Beach into a real show site. That patch of water has been home ever since.

They got good fast. By 1975 they were the first team in the sport to ski to recorded musical soundtracks, an idea other teams copied within a season. In 1976 they skied the Venetian Festival over in Lake Geneva. Then the trophies started piling up.

The run from 1982 to 1984 is the stretch Twin Lakes still brags about. The Aquanuts won the national title, then took the Triple Crown of show skiing two years running, stacking up eight straight first-place finishes. No team has matched that since.

A few more highlights from the decades after:

• In 2000, a group of members flew to China for a 21-day exhibition tour at the government’s invitation.
• In 2014, the team sent a four-high pyramid to the opening ceremony of the World Championships in Janesville.
• In 2015, they took the Division 1 national title for the first time since 1984.
• In 2016, they landed a five-high pyramid, a first for the team.
• In 2021, they brought the Wisconsin state title back to Twin Lakes after a 35-year wait.

Six national championships sit on the shelf. The team is known for its champion ballet line and those towering four-tier pyramids, and they pull it off as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every skier performs for free.

2026 is their 54th season.

If you want to catch them again

Rock the Lake is a one-off, but the Aquanuts perform all summer. Their regular shows run every Wednesday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Lance Park, Memorial Day through Labor Day, with free admission and free parking.

So if June 20 hooks you, you’ve got a standing Saturday plan through August.

Good to know

Where is Rock the Lake? Lance Park, on Lake Mary in the Village of Twin Lakes.

When is it? Saturday, June 20, from 2 to 8 p.m.

Who are the Aquanuts? A six-time national champion show ski team that’s called Lance Park home since the early 1970s.

Summer around these lakes moves fast, and the calendar fills up quicker than you’d think. Keep an eye on our events calendar so you don’t miss the next one on the water.