WHAT IS EDDIE FEST?
Our
Story
Eddie Fest, formerly known as Friends of Labor Fest, celebrates workers and the Chicago labor movement. Chicago has brought forth some of the greatest labor activists in the world – among them, Ed Sadlowski. Through the work of activists like Sadlowski and others throughout history, Chicago has been the driving force behind changes that have improved the lives of working people across generations. The eight-hour work day five-day work-week were born at Chicago’s Haymarket. The struggle at Chicago’s Pullman factory town gave us the Labor Day holiday we celebrate every September. The seeds of the laws like the NLRA and FLSA, and, policies that brought about living wages, workplace health and safety, social, security, and the benefits people enjoy today were first planted in Chicago. And in 2022, labor went all out to pass the Workers’ Rights Amendment, protecting the right to organize and collectively bargain in Illinois, preventing the threat of so-called Right-to-Work laws from coming to our state.
Not resting on history, the Labor Movement continues to protect the hard-earned workplace rights, wages, and benefits of working families. Through apprentice and training programs, it’s preparing young people for jobs that will build a secure future. Through organizing, the labor movement is growing to lift up union and non-union workers alike. Eddie Fest honoring the legacy of Ed Sadlowski celebrates more than 135 years of the labor movement in Chicago. A movement that has lifted up families, and built a path to a better life for workers and the middle class. A movement that today is made up of more than half a million union members across Chicago and Cook County. A movement that has strengthened families for stronger communities.
In 2023, Eddie Fest moved to the Historic Pullman District.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 6, 2025
12 pm
2024 Activities
-
Eddie Fest 2024 Features a full afternoon of free family fun for all! Live music returns with Union Rules playing classic rock favorites and a DJ taking over in between sets. There will be multiple bounce houses set up for the kids to jump around and enjoy. Local craft, community and food vendors will line Pullman Park, adding to the festival atmosphere!
-
The National A. Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum is hosting a pre-parade tailgate on their grounds at 104th & S. Maryland. The museum is currently closed for expansion, but staff will have information about the project and how you can support the first and only designated Black Labor History Museum in the Nation!
-
The Illinois Department of Natural resources will be hosting several activities, including a fishing clinic, an archery demonstration and other hands-on activities. Illinois DNR’s will be grilling up a limited supply of free copi burgers and hosting an 1884-rules “base ball” game between the Lemont Quarrymen and the Blue Island Brewmasters.
-
The Illinois Conservation Police will roll out their conservation trailer on site, featuring activities and learning experiences. They will also take kids and adults on a “bio-blitz” around Pullman, observing and recording the different kinds of plants, animals and other natural organisms they see on their walk.
-
The Historic Pullman Foundation will feature many vintage activities and exhibits! Test your skill with the Game of Graces. Peer through vintage Stereoscopes and challenge your imagination. Discover old-time chores and support your favorite cause by making your very own advocacy signs. Also, HPF’s new exhibit, People and the Pullman Strike, will be open. The exhibit honors the 130th anniversary of the Strike of 1894 and explores the human cost of the strike, and tries to view the struggle from all sides.
-
The Pullman National Historical Park Visitor Center and Exhibits in the Administration Clock-Tower Building will be open during the fest, bringing Pullman’s historic past to life! NPS is offering NPS is offering a free trolley tour at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. through historic Pullman, highlighting key buildings and broad stories.
-
The Illinois Labor History Society will challenge your trivia knowledge with a “Roll the Dice” game! Answer a multiple-choice question focused on labor history, particularly about Pullman, and win a prize!
-
Historic exhibits sponsored by the Pullman House Project will also be open!
Check out our Partners page for more information about all of the 2024 Labor Day Parade & Festival's partner organizations
Once 2025 Eddie Fest Activities are finalized they will be posted here.
Edward Sadlowski was nicknamed “OILCAN” because
he carried one on his first job in the steel mill.
ABOUt
ED SADLOWSKI
Eddie became a strong voice for the working class. He helped democratize union elections and oust entrenched officers who had cozied up to management and lost touch with the rank and file.
Eddie, a third-generation steelworker, dropped out of high school in 11th grade to become an apprentice machinist. He rose meteorically through the ranks of the United Steelworkers Union by echoing the confrontational voices of his labor heroes. John L. Lewis who led the Miners’ Strike and Victor Reuther, one of the three brothers who transformed the Autoworkers Union into a labor power. In the mid-1960s at age 26, Eddie became the youngest president of a Steelworkers Union, LOCAL 65 representing 23,000 workers. He served as District Director at age 30. He represented the union's largest district, covering mills from Chicago to Gary, Indiana. He sat on the Illinois State Labor Board for twenty-one years.
Eddie never forgot where he came from or whom he represented, The Working Class! Eddie died on June 10, 2018. He would be the first guy to tell you, “DON’T MOURN, ORGANIZE!”
