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Freedom Festival to celebrate community

By Loren Keller

Same family fun, different holiday weekend.

Postponed due to the flooding in June, most events affiliated with the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival, traditionally centered on the Fourth of July weekend, have been rescheduled for this Labor Day weekend.

The festival has also been rebilled this year: what was called a “celebration of freedom” is now a “celebration of community,” as Cedar Rapids continues to push forward with flood recovery and rebuilding efforts.

“We think people are ready and we’re ready to put on some events and bring something for people do that’s affordable and family friendly,” says Ann Virden, the festival’s community relations manager. “We think it’s about time.”

Most of the big events that were to have happened earlier this summer have been rescheduled and relocated: the Freedom Festival parade begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Kirkwood Community College; fireworks will start at dusk Monday at Veterans Memorial Stadium and at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena; and the popular Balloon Glow is set for Friday, Sept. 5 at Brucemore, 2160 Linden Dr SE, beginning at dusk.

Organizers have canceled the cardboard boat regatta—the Patriotic Pops and classic rock concert nights were also canceled earlier this summer—but the schedule still includes plenty of family fun. FestaFun begins at the Kirkwood campus at 10 a.m. Saturday following the parade and will include a petting zoo, a stage coach, “Little Toot Express” train rides, inflatable toys and rock-climbing walls.

A full schedule of this weekend’s Freedom Festival events is posted here.

The festival’s three full-time organizers have been working from the home of marketing and operations director Russ Oviatt since their downtown office at 226 Second St. SE was inundated with 8 feet of floodwater in June. Most other flooded-out events have also found new locations.

“Everyone’s been pretty cooperative,” Virden says. “We had our fireworks for the Fourth of July out at Kirkwood, but because of the traffic and because we were kind of too successful, they asked us to relocate.”

Freedom Festival fireworks typically draw upwards of 90,000 spectators in downtown Cedar Rapids; an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 watched the July 4 fireworks at Kirkwood this year. Two fireworks displays will be held simultaneously Monday night as Veterans Memorial Stadium has a capacity of just 6,000.

“We’re trying to accommodate for the crowds but we’re just not sure what to expect at this point,” Virden says.

The Sept. 5 Balloon Glow at Brucemore will feature a half-dozen hot air balloons firing up at dusk in addition to the Cedar Island Band and food vendors.

“It’s a good event for families to come out, sit on the lawn and a have a picnic if they want,” Virden says.

Revised schedules and Freedom Festival buttons area available at Casey’s and Hy-Vee locations. Buttons cost $3 and entitle wearers free or reduced admission at all Freedom Festival affiliated events.