Fighting Bob Fests I-VII have been graced with many heroes. The late Senator Paul Simon, RFK, Jr., Russ Feingold, Amy Goodman, Phil Donahue, Cindy Sheehan, Doris "Granny D" Haddock, Members of Congress: Gwen Moore, Tom Harkin, Bernie Sanders, Tammy Baldwin, John Conyers, and David Obey; Green Party presidential candidates Cynthia McKinney and David Cobb, Ralph Nader, Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich; and, what would a Wisconsin Chautauqua be without Stan Gruszynski, John Nichols, Bob McChesney, Mike McCabe and the nation’s favorite populist, Jim Hightower?

1,200 attended our first Fest; year two saw 2,500, year three over 4,000, and so on. In 2008 around 10,000 jammed the fairgrounds. People are inspired by great speakers and from the knowledge that, as they look around, they are not alone in fighting the good fight. While some say we preach to the choir, we say the choir needs inspiration as well. And we have fun!

My role? I keep the program rolling on time. So, come, enjoy, participate, raise hell, and take words into action. See you in Baraboo.

Ed Garvey
Editor and Publisher of FightingBob.com

Sep 23, 2009
Videos clips from Bob Fest

Thanks to Karen Chin and On the Earth Productions we have available on video all of the speeches from Fighting Bob Fest VIII.  I might add that Karen has also has posted a few other Bob Fest speeches from years past.  Simply click on the red "Watch the latest Fest videos" icon above to watch.  Note:  Make sure to scroll down on the video page to see all the videos.

A great big thanks to all of the volunteers that helped make the eighth annual Bob Fest a rousing success.  The day could not have gone more smoothly.  Thank you also to everyone who came out to the fairgrounds to support the festival and enjoy the incredible line-up of inspiring speakers we had throughout the day.  Thanks to your support we earned enough money to cover our expenses and to start planning for next year's fest. Please check back with us often as we start to announce the date for next year's fest and confirmed speakers.

In the mean time, please enjoy these clips of the day's speeches.  More videos and pictures will be posted throughout the coming days.

Friday, September 11, 2009, at 7:30 p.m at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, WI.

Hosted by FightingBob.com and The Capital Times
Sponsored by Capital Brewery, WORT 89.9 FM, and The Mic 92.1

Commemorate 9/11 without political grandstanding with Greg Palast, Jeremy Scahill, Jim Hightower, film clips from Sherry Jones’s documentary “Torturing Democracy”, U.W. Prof. Alfred McCoy, John Nichols, and much more. 

Tickets are $9.00 in advance and $11.00 at the door, and are available at all Barrymore Theatre sales outlets, by phone at 608-241-8864, or online at www.barrymorelive.com.

Fighting Bob Fest is an annual Chautauqua featuring progressive speakers, networking opportunities, and entertainment. Fighting Bob Fest carries on the tradition of Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette by providing a forum for progressive ideas on issues facing Wisconsin and the nation.

Freedom and justice are defended through education, and the exchange of ideas promotes solidarity among progressives. To this end, Fighting Bob Fest strives to provide citizens with a forum for democratic participation where frustrations with current policies can be constructively molded into calls to action.