The History of the
Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival
Presented by the Linn County Historical Society
2023 marks the 40th year of Freedom Festival, a patriotic celebration of the United States of America that, with one exception, has been hosted annually since 1984. The idea for this celebration was first conceived of by Peter Teahen in 1983 while at a 4th of July Celebration in Fairfax, Iowa. Teahen, noticing various other Cedar Rapids residents in the crowd, wondered why such celebrations were not held in larger communities like Cedar Rapids. This question grew into an idea and in 1984, in collaboration with the Veterans Council and with the help of Cedar Rapids volunteers, Teahen hosted the first Cedar Rapids Fourth of July Celebration of Freedom. This first celebration hosted 5,000 attendees, who enjoyed several events and watched the fireworks display on Mays Island. The success of the first event inspired Teahen and his partners to host an event the next year, with Teahen going so far as to convince Iowa Light and Power Co. to turn off the lights in the festival area for the fireworks display.
The celebration of Freedom quickly grew in size, seeing 80,000 attendees for the 1987 celebration. The increase in attendance, coupled with the growing interest by local businesses and organizations to host events during the celebration, led to the establishment of Cedar Rapids Festival Incorporated in 1988, a not-for-profit organization in charge of organizing the various events hosted during the newly named Freedom Fest, with Peter Teahen serving as the first president of the board and Ray Johnston being named its first Executive Director. These earliest events included the Fifth Season 8k Road race which began in 1986, the BBQ Round-Up at Stuffers, the Gazette's Softball Spectacular, the Mercy/Stuffer Challenge Bike Race, the Banc Iowa Art Fair, a streetdance, the Celebration of Freedom, the Cedar Boat Club fireworks, and a Water Ski show. The 1988 season also saw the introduction of the Freedom Festival Button, which sold for one dollar as a means to raise funds for hosting Freedom Fest. Later, contests were held to determine what design would be present on the buttons, which were used like tickets, allowing attendees access to certain events during the festival.
As the years carried on, new executive directors would take the helm of Cedar Rapids Festival Incorporated, bringing with them new ideas and events which expanded Freedom Fest into the fifteen day, internationally recognized extravaganza that sees hundreds-of-thousands of attendees a year. In 1990, the Star-Spangled salute to Iowa event at Paramount theater and Dragon Boat races were introduced, along with an increase to the Mercy/Stouffer Challenge Bike Race purse, totaling $14,000. In 1991, the $1,000,000 Hole-In-One Shootout golf event was added. In 2006, Freedom Festival received a variety of awards from the International Festival and Events Association: Gold Best Volunteer Program; Silver Best Full Length TV Program; Bronze Best Community Outreach, Best Overall Merchandising, Best Program within an Event to Benefit a Charity. In 2008, unprecedented flooding affected the majority of downtown Cedar Rapids in the weeks leading up to that year's events. The July 4th fireworks display was moved to the Kirkwood Community College Campus and as many events as possible were rescheduled for Labor Day.
Carissa Johnson's 2020 term marked the first complete cancellation of Freedom Festival in the event's history as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a nationwide quarantine. Some events, like a medallion hunt and the pancake breakfast, in drive-through form, were still held. Karol Shepherd's term began with a Freedom Fest hosted primarily online, combined with limited in-person events that followed CDC guidelines. 2022 would see a return to a more familiar Freedom Fest with a new laser light show held at Hawkeye Downs. Already, new events have been announced for the 2023 festival, a Jazz Night hosted by the Economic Alliance on the 23rd and patriotic pickleball hosted by Team Iowa on the 2nd. These will join the returning favorites like the Movie at the Ballpark and Music at the Museum! Over the years, Freedom Fest has given much to Cedar Rapids, beyond its patriotic displays and amazing BBQ. Freedom Fest shines a spotlight on Cedar Rapids, a spotlight that is utilized by various organizations to highlight the city as a whole, its citizens and themselves as parts of that whole.
