Back in 2010 Ian Cioffi, all by himself, found a venue and started inviting people from the liberty movement to come down and rant –and rant they did.  That was the day I discovered what a wonder Catherine Bleish was. She gave a speech that still gives me goosebumps. It was the day I realized anarchy had been born and that not everyone was buying into “voting” or “politics as usual” even though many of the speakers at the event were liberty candidates that had been endorsed through my organization and that many who were running for congress had flown across the country just to be at this “fest” which was one of the first of it’s kind….and may actually be the last of its kind.

In 2011, Libertyfest 2 went from a small venue to giant spectacle. Chris Cantwell was still wearing a suit and doing stand-up.  800 people showed up and it was one of the largest “fest” in the country –and certainly one of the most successful.  There were 28 speakers and the all day event went into an after party that lasted till the wee hours of the night.  The event was publicized for more than 6 months and it had no lack of every facet of liberty. Everyone from Tom Woods and Mike Church to Anarchist, Stefan Molyneux to Antiwar advocates like Scott Horton and truth tellers like Richard Gage.  There was no lack of sponsors and vendors and everyone wanted to be part of standing up for liberty.  Right before the 2012 presidential elections Ron Paul rEVolutionaries filled the room and  RevPac headed by Gary Franchi and Tom Woods introduced the Plastic Man commercial at the event. Jordan Page provided the soundtrack for libertyfest once again. It was a time filled with optimism and hope for the future.

2012 and Libertyfest III moved into a smaller, more trendy venue –basically because it was realized that when you put a room full of libertarians together people just can’t stop talking and it was hard to hear the speakers in 2011.  The date was also moved to October and it was a month before the 2012 election and there was a Solemnness to this event that had not been felt in the previous two “fest”.  Rand Paul had endorsed Mitt Romney,  Mitt was the Republican candidate and the parade of anarchist at libertyfest had grown larger.  At this Libertyfest we had speakers who were now offering solutions since the hope of a Ron Paul election was no longer a possibility.  Michael Boldin came in to speak about Nullification. Richard Mack came in to speak about States Rights. John Bush talked about sustainable living and Stefan Molyneux now had a following, triple of what he had at the libertyfest the year before. Times were changing fast.  rEVOLutionaries were now exchanging their Ron Paul for President signs and waving “Free State” banners and Voluntarist badges on their shirts.

2013 saw no libertyfest because it had to be postponed due to conflicting events so in 2014 we saw Libertyfest 4 and 5.  Libertyfest 4 showed that women were now stepping up to pave the way to liberty. All of the speakers were ladies of liberty and they had plenty to rant about.  We saw a debate between sweetheart of liberty, Julie Borowski, and the feminist, Cathy Reisenwitz; rants from Josie Wales on the Police State and, Whistle-blower, Kristen Megan on Geo-Engineering. We had educational speeches on social media, a speech on the vaccine issue, a speech about moving to the Free State and finding liberty in our own lifetime and even I, NY State Senatorial Candidate, stepped up to the plate with a speech about why I was running for office.

Libertyfest 5 brought us to a new place. Liberty candidates were running for local office all over the country and it seemed a new wave of liberty-lovers had entered the scene which brought with it new speakers with fresh ideas telling us to stop preaching and to take action as well as those who were taking action by turning their past experiences into positive motivation like Adam Kokesh and his book, Freedom.

October 10 & 11, 2015 brings Libertyfest 6.  The event is so huge it’s grown to 2 days and we’re going back to last year’s venue, The Warsaw, in the trendy area of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, because of the convenience to park and the Pierogies –Polish food and a great stage where you can hear the speakers, who could ask for anything more?   The keynote speaker at this years event is Ben Swann. Ben, who came in through the Ron Paul rEVOution as one of the only advocates for truth in media, is bringing with him the optimism that we have now taken into our own hands.  The liberty movement is no longer a movement about one man and hoping to get him elected so he could be our savior but instead the liberty movement has become about US, you and I, and how WE are taking our own personal liberty into our own hands and by doing so, amassing an army of more awake and aware beings who can stand together with us to fight an oppressive government that seems to be knocking on our doors to infringe on our speech, our internet, our amendments and our personal freedom.

Issues that will be spoken about at this 6th Libertyfest NYC range from those who give us the truths that need to be told like journalist and activist, Luke Rudkowski who founded We Are Change and Antiwar.com director, Angela Keaton to those who are awakening other’s through all forms of media like the art of Anthony Freda or the author, James Perloff, who’s book about the shadow government, will be featured in the upcoming film Shadowring.

We also have newcomers to liberty like Belle Knox, who made headlines when it was revealed that she was paying for her tuition at Duke University by doing porn and Michelle Ray, host of In Deep, Publishing editor at IJ Review, and Independent Social Media Consultant.

We also have lots of issues being spoken about this year –everything from Agenda 21 with Rosa Koire who through her website Democrats against UN Agenda 21 has reached people worldwide to bring awareness to how this issue is affecting our own communities to Ademo, founding member of CopBlock.org ,which brings awareness to the police state and how we can prevent abuse and corruption by law enforcement.

Check out the website lfnyc.com.  Speakers are being added daily and with this amazing, long standing event lasting two full days, it’s turned into a Libertyfest like no other! Come for the learning experience and the chance to be informed, come for the camaraderie with those who are on the same page but most of all, come for the pierogies 😉