MILWAUKEE - The Big Gig opens its gates Thursday at noon. But some of the most frenzied activity happens in the days before. "By the first day when Summerfest opens, my workload will be a lot less than it is right now," admits Jon "Bingo" Berta, owner of Major Goolsby's Pub. His workers set up cash registers and beer taps in anticipation of a big Summerfest crowd. Before the fest opens, workers must set up 100 tents, 600 tables and 2,500 chairs. They couldn't start the setup until Monday because Polish Fest occupied the park over the weekend. Other activity on the grounds Monday included a crew working to increase the size of the Harley Davidson stage to accommodate Country Music Television. Food vendors bagged ice cream bars, filled coolers and cleaned their stands. Sunglasses salesman Jim Kitsmiller set up four tents Monday. He said the three days before the fest are really stressful. "It's fun during it, it's the time before and a little bit after that's the hard work," he said. One major part of the preparation took place month ago. After last year's opening day power outage, We Energies took a look at the entire electric system. They replaced cables and enclosed them in pipes. They also replaced transformers. Summerfest spokesman John Boler said he's not worried about a repeat of the outage.