The Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival has unveiled the Freedom FEASTival, a new food-based event in downtown Cedar Rapids.
At this free event, taking place on Friday, May 3 from 11 a.m. to 7p.m., attendees will explore a celebration of local culinary delights, from food trucks to community vendors, on the Second Avenue bridge in Downtown Cedar Rapids. The event will serve as a fundraiser for the overall Freedom Festival.
“We are excited to introduce Freedom FEASTival as a new and delicious addition that will take place outside of our typical festival dates,” said Freedom Festival events and marketing director Marnie Schultz. “This event reflects our commitment to bringing the community together and celebrating the diverse flavors that our local culinary scene has to offer.”
Anyone interested in being one of the vendors for this event can find more information, as well as a way to apply, The Freedom Festival’s website: www.freedomfestival.com.
The Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival is scheduled this year from June 14 to July 4, a community celebration filled with family-friendly activities, live entertainment, delicious food, and a spectacular fireworks display. Festival buttons, which serve as an all-access pass to the various festival events, will be available for purchase at area Hy-Vee stores, with all proceeds supporting the festival’s mission to bring joy and community spirit to Cedar Rapids.
2023 marked 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 Fourth 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, Mr. Teahen hosted the first Cedar Rapids Fourth of July Celebration of Freedom.
