Five things not to miss at Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival

CEDAR RAPIDS - Each year, thousands of Iowans descend on Cedar Rapids during the Fourth of July weekend for the annual Freedom Festival, which features all kinds of family friendly activities, including a parade, concerts, car show, road race, a pancake breakfast and, of course, a fireworks show, set to take place this year at dusk on Tuesday.

In recent years, however, the festival has begun to attract folks from out of state, said Liz Neff, Freedom Festival events and marketing director.

'The whole festival, we of course work all year for, but this weekend in particular we really have started to put more focus on to create that destination for people,” Neff said. 'We hope to see people come in (from out of town).”

Last year, for example, visitors came from Michigan and Illinois.

'We are starting to see more of that, people actually traveling to come to the Freedom Festival because they are looking for big festivals in their area and they see so many events happening that they come down for three or four days and stay in a hotel,” Neff said. 'We are really trying to promote that tourism.”

Freedom Festival events incorporate various parts of the city to bring together the community in celebration of Independence Day.

'We have really created a destination for folks to come through and be able to experience a lot of diversity and different venues in our city,” Neff said.

Here are five things not to miss at this year's Freedom Festival. For a full schedule of events, go to freedomfestival.com.

Dock Dogs

Dock Dogs is a national canine aquatics competition featuring a series of dog jumping events. The competition includes three aquatic events - big air, extreme vertical and speed retrieval. The competition runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday in the parking lot at the Newbo Ale House, 1201 Third St. SE.

Concerts

Several concerts are planned, including:

' The Fez - 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE.

' Funk Daddies - 6-9 p.m. Saturday at NewBo City Market.

' Cedar Rapids Municipal Band - 7:30 p.m. Sunday at McGrath Amphitheatre, 475 First St. SW.

' The NADAS - 6-8 p.m. Monday at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library amphitheater, 1400 Inspiration Place SW.

' Johnny Holm Band - 5 p.m. Tuesday at McGrath Amphitheatre. Gates open at 4 p.m.

Imagination Square

Imagination Square offers family friendly and educational interactive booths including face painting, a photo booth and the Jr. Firefighter Challenge hosted by the Cedar Rapids Fire Department. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at NewBo City Market.

Taste of Freedom

Chefs from Hy-Vee stores in Cedar Rapids and Marion come together to compete in a cooking competition where they create sliders for participants to judge. The competition takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at NewBo City Market. Each station will offer a different choice and it is up to participants to decide the winner, who gets bragging rights for the year. All sliders are available through ticket purchase.

Celebration of Freedom Fireworks

Come to downtown Cedar Rapids to see a show choreographed by J&M Displays and sponsored by Rockwell Collins. Before the show at dusk, a variety of activities take place on the downtown bridges beginning at 4 p.m. They include face painting, balloon artists, the 'Freedom Express” trackless train, bungee trampolines, and inflatables zone and military vehicle display. Admission is free with a Freedom Festival button and for children age 8 and younger.

l Comments: (319) 368-8538; elianna.novitch@thegazette.com