Evansville Freedom Festival

About

The Evansville Freedom Festival is a salute to the veterans in the Tri-State. The Freedom Festival has been held on the banks of the Ohio River and provided the Tri -State region with family entertainment for the past 33 years.

The Freedom Festival’s Key Mission

Conduct an annual Freedom Festival in the Greater Evansville area for the benefit of all citizens in celebration, recognition and appreciation of their liberties, rights and freedoms; to promote the principles of freedom, justice and equality throughout the year; and to assist in preserving and strengthening the basic rights, privileges, freedoms and equalities of all citizens upon which these United States were founded in 1776.

Organization Profile

The Evansville Freedom Festival is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization, incorporated in 1976. The Festival is governed by a volunteer board of directors and is run entirely by volunteers. As the Festival has no full-time paid staff and minimal overhead, almost every dollar of your sponsorship goes directly to the promotion and conducting of Festival events.

History of the Festival

The Freedom Festival made its debut in 1970 when it sponsored for the first time the 4th of July Fireworks. The Festival expanded to include a parade and bierstube and was soon widely recognized as a source of pride in the Evansville community. In 1978, the Festival featured for the first time a hydroplane boat race. The Festival is traditionally held the last weekend in June and culminates in the Festival’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The Festival has continued to grow and add events since its inception and is now comprised of multiple events designed to entertain families and spectators alike. The Festival’s addition of the Thunder Air Show has created excitement within the community and drawn record crowds to the Festival. All of these events are solely supported by the funds raised by the Freedom Festival.

Geographic Location and Community Served

The Festival traditionally draws the majority of its attendance from the Tri-State region. The addition of such nationally recognized and followed acts such as the Blue Angels in 2001 and again in 2005 drew strongly from the entire Midwest region. The hydroplane race is the largest single sports event within a 150-mile radius. In addition to providing family entertainment and tourism revenue for the region, the Festival supports and contributes to the fund raising efforts of a number of local not-for-profit organizations. Just in the past few years the Festival has supported the efforts of the following organizations: