Freedom Festival organizers prepare for 2012

The Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival Celebration of Freedom Fireworks are launched from May's Island in downtown Cedar Rapids on Monday July 4, 2011. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Freedom Festival, which last year experienced its largest turnout in 6 years, is hoping to build on that momentum during this summer’s events.

Organizers say the festival, which will run from June 21-July 4, will have more to offer, with perhaps the biggest addition being a second location to spend the Fourth of July.

Nearly 105,000 people turned out to watch fireworks along the Cedar River last year, and festival organizers said they saw an opportunity to accommodate more people.

“On the Fourth of July this year, we won’t just be downtown, we will also be at the Kernel’s stadium,” said Erika Elles, vice president of the Freedom Festival Board of Directors.

The festival also will offer a range of new activities leading up to the fireworks that day.

“We are going to start out the Fourth with a pancake breakfast, then a concert,” said Robyn Rieckhoff, the festival’s new executive director. “Then there will be the baseball game which will be followed by another concert.”

The festival also will last two weeks instead of three weeks this year, but organizers will still hold the flag-raising event on Flag Day, June 14.

“That was based on feedback we received from volunteers, people on the board, citizens of Cedar Rapids that attended the events,” Elles said.

Organizers have been using that feedback to decide what to include in the festival, and what to leave out.

“We are going to have a couple more bands coming, but we are not ready to release who that is going to be yet,” Rieckhoff said.

Elles said that organizers have decided not to hold events that had low attendance, like the cardboard regatta, this year.

But events like the Balloon Glow and the Firefighter Challenge drew so much interest, organizers are expanding them. The Firefighter Challenge will now be a two-day event where children can also compete.

“One of the comments we got from people who attended that event was ‘you have to bring this back, we just loved it,’” Elles said.

Rieckhoff said organizers still want to hear from the public about what they would like to see at this year’s festival. She said residents can leave feedback on the festival’s Facebook page or on their web site.

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Freedom Festival organizers prepare for 2012