Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival celebrates 40th birthday

Three weeks of activities begin Flag Day, end with a bang July 4

Jun. 8, 2023 6:00 am, Updated: Jun. 8, 2023 9:40 am

Expect cake. Lots of cake as the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival celebrates its 40th birthday this year.

What began as just an idea in 1983 sparked a downtown fireworks display the following July 4 that drew 5,000 spectators.

Fast-forward 40 years, and the celebration now spans three weeks, attracting 400,000 spectators. Festivities begin on Flag Day, June 14, and culminate with the Celebration of Freedom Fireworks on July 4. Several affiliated events, including Cedar Rapids Municipal Band concerts, continue through July 12, bringing the total to nearly 70 events.

What: Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival

When: June 14 to July 4, with additional affiliated events continuing through July 12

Details: freedomfestival.com/

What: Cedar Boat Club's 75th Anniversary Fireworks Show

When: Sunset July 2

Where: Cedar River, downstream of Ellis Harbor

Details: cedarboatclub.org/

One major change is year is the footprint for the fireworks. With ongoing construction of the flood wall downtown, the fireworks will be shot from the Second Avenue Bridge, instead of the First Avenue Bridge. That means seating is pushed back to just the Third Avenue Bridge and the McGrath Amphitheatre, with no spectator seating on the Second Avenue Bridge and May's Island.

The Kids’ Zone and food vendors will be situated on First Street SW, from the Third Avenue Bridge to the amphitheater. The fireworks musical soundtrack will be broadcast in the seating venues, not synchronized on a local radio station, as in the past.

"We actually we looked into it again this year, but we have found that people are listening differently to the radio," said Karol Shepherd, the festival's executive director. They’re using apps, which results in a delay, she noted, "so it wouldn't really be set to music."

Some other details are being kept under wraps.

"We've got some surprises in store for people that are downtown," Shepherd said. "We're really, really excited. We're pulling out the stops for our audience."

A July 6, 1999, Gazette editorial declared: "What a boring weekend this would have been without the Freedom Festival. ... Not so long ago, this city lacked a July 4 bash. In 1983, local businessman Peter Teahen was viewing Fourth of July fireworks in Fairfax and noticed how many Cedar Rapids residents were there. He thought his hometown could — and should — put on a display.

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"By Christmas that year, he had enlisted help from others and requested permission for street closings downtown for the first Celebration of Freedom. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Veterans Council, the one-day event drew just 5,000. By 1988, it sported a new name — Freedom Festival — and had grown to 13 events."

Planning has grown to a year-round endeavor, headed by Shepherd, events and marketing coordinator Marnie Schultz, marketing assistant Emma Slagle, a 22-member board of directors, and two seasonal interns.

And that's not all.

"It does take a village," Shepherd said, citing the legion of volunteers who help with stuffing 20,000 buttons into packets or assisting with activities, including the July 4 festivities downtown. Volunteers who participate in the festival's Win-Win-Win program are "paid" with monetary donations to the nonprofits of their choice.

"We funnel thousands of dollars in the community to other nonprofit organizations," said Shepherd, who is in her third year at the helm of the festival, itself a nonprofit organization.

The buttons, which debuted for $1 in 1988, are the key to entry for many festival events. Now priced at $10, they are the festival's major fundraiser, helping to finance the $300,000 endeavor. The gold buttons have returned this year, and come with a $100 Hy-Vee gift card. Forty gold buttons are stashed among all other buttons being sold at Hy-Vee's area grocery stores, drugstores and Fast & Fresh stores.

Corporate sponsorships and a slice of the city's hotel-motel tax revenues also boost the bottom line. New this year, donation buckets will dot the event landscape, and a donation link is provided online at freedomfestival.com/volunteers/

"Every little bit helps — every little penny, every little dollar helps go to make sure that we can sustain for another 40 and more years," Shepherd said. "So very important. I wish that I could have somebody write the million-dollar check so everything could be free, but I just don't have that donor unless you can find one for me."

And while she's received some pushback at raising the price of the buttons, she noted the family-friendly festival is facing increased expenses, just like everyone and everything else.

"I totally understand it is hard when you go from $5 to $10 in one year," Shepherd said. "It's not because we're trying to pad our pockets — it's just so that we can be here 40 years from now."

And in honor of the milestone year, 100 commemorative coins are available for $40. Proceeds will help pay for Challenge Coins, being given to veterans who assist in festival events, from serving in color guards to serving on the board of directors, and many role in between.

The first commemorative coin is being given to Peter Teahen, whose idea for downtown fireworks has evolved into the Freedom Festival. Teahen will not be at this year's celebration, since he's flying around the world to raise money and awareness for Rotary International's polio eradication efforts. He and his co-pilot, John Ockenfels, are slated to be in Australia on July 4.

Kickoff: Nods to the past are tucked into the three-week celebration, beginning with the return of the flag-raising ceremony at 8 a.m. June 14 in front of Veterans Memorial Building on the Second Avenue Bridge downtown. The flag retirement ceremony at 6 that evening is moving to the Freedom Foundation, 4001 Center Point Rd. NE, adding live music and food afterward after the solemn salute.

Tribute to Heroes Dinner: Table decorations at the Tribute to Heroes Dinner on June 15 will reflect popular events from the past. This celebration of people who have made positive contributions to the community will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton complex downtown. (Watch for Hero profiles in Saturday's Gazette.)

Shepherd said that thanks to ardent scrapbookers, the table decorations will include photos from such past event as gurney races, Big Wheel races and pie eating contests.

"The biggest thing is, we're taking a look at our history," Shepherd said. "We're looking back over the years, revisiting some of the fan favorites — big memories that people continue to share with us," including the cardboard boat regatta, that Shepherd hinted may make a comeback in the future.

A picture project is in the works, she said, as well as a small display of artifacts at The History Center.

Parades: The Kids’ Parade is back this year, stepping or wheeling off from the Paramount lot at 11:30 a.m. June 24, and continuing to Greene Square. Kids are invited to festoon their bikes, scooters or wagons in red, white and blue and join in the fun following the big parade, which begins an 10 a.m. June 24 and follows the usual downtown Cedar Rapids parade route.

Post-parade: Greene Square will be hoping with activities that day, with Imagination Square from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Volta Youth Music and Art Festival there from 1 to 6 p.m.

Movie at the Ballpark: One of Shepherd's favorite events is returning to Veterans Memorial Stadium, 950 Rockford Rd. SW, from 6 to 9 p.m. June 29. Featured movie is "Top Gun: Maverick," which begins at 7 p.m. Admission is free with a festival button; no button is required for kids ages 5 and under. Lawn chairs are not allowed on the field, and outside food and beverages are not allowed in the venue.

Balloon Glow: 4 to 10 p.m. June 17, Jones Park, 201 Wilson Ave. Dr. SW, with at least 10 tethered hot-air balloons and music by Day, the 34th Army Band's 42 Romeo rockers, and The Bamboozlers, free admission with festival button.

DockDogs: June 22 to 25, on the north fields at Kingston Stadium, 907 15th St. SW.

Music at the Museum: 6 to 9 p.m. July 1, with Amy Friedl Stoner, followed by Birdchild, on the lawn outside the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, 1400 Inspiration Pl. SW.

July 4: Fifth Season Races with Corridor Running Club, 7:30 a.m., Greene Square to Bever Park and back; Pancake Breakfast, 8 to 11 a.m., ImOn Ice Arena, 1100 Rockford Rd. SW, with entertainment by the Vintage Jammers, $10 or $5 with festival button; Classic Car Show, 8 a.m. to noon in the nearby lower Kingston parking lot, free attend, $15 in advance or $20 that day to participate; Celebration of Freedom Fireworks, activities 5 to 10:30 p.m. downtown; Fourth of July Concert, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., McGrath Amphitheatre, 475 First St. SW, gates open 5 p.m., food vendors, kids’ activities, music by Brass Transit Authority, followed by Vibe. And of course, it's all followed by the fireworks after dark.

The Freedom Festival isn't the only one marking a milestone with a bang. The Cedar Boat Club is celebrating its 75th anniversary with the return of its public fireworks show. At sunset July 2, the event will light the night sky over the Cedar River, downstream of Ellis Harbor, 1700 Ellis Blvd. NW. Prime viewing is the beach across from Ellis Pool.

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