The second annual Milwaukee Polka Riot Festival – organized by The Rebel Stage and Cream City Media – is set for Saturday, Sept. 8, from 4 p.m. until midnight at Sabbatic, 700 S. 2nd St. in Walker's Point.
This free event includes a slate of alternative polka bands from around the world, including The November Criminals, Apolkalypse WOW!, Forró Fo Sho, Preomnor and others, playing on two stages: one indoors and the other outside.
The complete lineup can be found here.
A variety of food trucks will pull up to the event, including including What’s Good, a cart that sells custom-made Polish sausage.
In heaven there is no beer, that's why Sabbatic will sell it here at the festival. Sprecher will provide free soda for designated drivers.
Raffle tickets will be sold all day for drawings announced in the evening.
Get your polka on – but, please, no actual rioting – at the Milwaukee Polka Riot.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
