Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival Schedule
Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival has become one of the biggest July 4th events in our area. Click on the link below to find out more about the events.
Cardboard Boat Regatta & Little Skippers
Car Show & Pinewood Derby Races
Celebration of Freedom - July 4th at McGrath Amphitheatre , 4:30 to 10:30
DockDogs
Drone Show
Freedom Bike Ride-South Troy Park: 700 S Troy Rd, Robins, June 28, 8 am
Pancake Breakfast
Parade - Saturday, June 27th 10am - 11:30am- Want to join the parade? registration closes June 20
Patriotic Pop-Up
Rock N Bowl
Stars & Stripes Chalk Fest
Tribute to Heroes Breakfast & Flag Raising Ceremony
Yoga on the Island
Other Celebrations
June 20
Prairieburg – Fireworks at Dusk at Bakers Park
Coggon
July 3
The Coggon Library is holding a 250th Birthday party bash at 10 am. Everyone welcome. There will be a cupcake decorating class and a cream cheese mint making class as well as other food and games.
July 4
Shellsburg – Fireworks at dusk in Shellsburg Main Park
Troy Mills - 4th of July Breakfast. Parade, and Fireworks: Breakfast courtesy of the Troy Mills Fire Department (Breakfast Burrito, free will donation!) 7 – 10 am at the Troy Mills Fire Station. Parade: Participants will line up at 10 am, south of Troy Mills and the parade will begin at 11 am. No registration is necessary. Fireworks at dusk. Contact Jay Carson for more information at 319-350-4427.
Center Point - 4th of July Celebration - Annual Waffle Breakfast, Falcon Civic Center, 7 a.m. to 10 am. Downtown, July 4 from 9 am to 2 pm - parade at 10 am. Featuring live music, a pie sale, a homebrew competition, a beer garden, a vendor fair, and kids' activities. Fireworks, Linn County Fairgrounds, July 4 at dusk
Marion
Fireworks & Fireflies - Klopfenstein Amphitheater at Lowe Park, 6 pm - Featuring live music, food trucks, face painting, a petting zoo, a family fun zone, and fireworks at dusk
American Legion (Post 298), 31st Street in Marion on July 4. Several sets of cornhole boards will be set up outside for everyone to enjoy, as well as plenty of indoor activities for the kids, including professional face painting. The kids can color pictures to be given to the local veterans and decorate their own sugar cookies. The American Legion will be serving hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, homemade desserts and lemonade during this free event. Everyone is welcome. Text or call Crysti Stacy (319) 201-0680 with questions.
Americans' freedom is more
than just signing a document
Everyone knows why we celebrate the 4th of July, but many focus on the Declaration of Independence and forget about the other pieces of history that are just as profound that helped shape us as a nation. let's not forget to give thanks for our freedom, but remember how we maintained that freedom in the past 250 years:
The American Revolution (1775–1783) & Constitution (1787)
The 13 colonies declared independence from Great Britain and subsequently established the U.S. Constitution, creating a framework for a democratic constitutional republic.
It launched a bold political experiment in self-governance and established the foundational laws of the land.
The American Civil War (1861–1865)
The nation was torn apart by a devastating civil war over the issues of states' rights and the institution of slavery.
Historians widely consider this the ultimate stress test of the American experiment. The Union victory preserved the nation and ultimately led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment, ending slavery.
Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation Jan. 1, 1863, but the slaves in Galveston, TX had to wait another two years for the Union soldiers to reach them because their slave owners would not let them go. This has become know as Juneteenth.
The Civil Rights Movement (Mid-20th Century)
A decades-long struggle, peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, led by figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to end institutionalized racial segregation and secure voting rights for all citizens.
It forced the nation to confront the hypocrisy of its founding ideals (e.g., freedom and equality) and resulted in landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Industrial Revolution & 20th-Century Innovation
The U.S. transitioned from an agrarian society to the world’s leading industrial and technological superpower.
Breakthroughs in mass production, electrification, telecommunications, and modern medicine fundamentally altered the daily lives of Americans and shaped global geopolitics.