'Cosmopods' invade Bradford Beach in 1st of 4 Wednesday summer night events

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Meet the "cosmopods."

They look like a technicolor octopus invasion. 

These large, colorful, inflated objects are on display at Bradford Beach. They're part of a public party called ArtBlaze on the Beach, and it's the first of four events on Wednesday summer nights. 

A group called Joy Engine is behind the ArtBlaze concept, and the goal is to simply bring people down to the lakefront. 

"Beaches are accessible, and people are kind of familiar with beaches and what to do at beaches," said Steph Salvia, executive director of Joy Engine. "And our beaches are pretty underutilized, so we thought this would be a good way to bring people down."

Along with the cosmopods, there will be food vendors, live music, hands-on art experiences and even some dance lessons.