Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival — Local services in Cedar Rapids

To call this a disappointment, especially compared to previous years, would be an understatement. First off, the security was completely over the top. Someone in my group had to walk all the back to our car because purses weren’t allowed. The cost was $10 per person, which would usually be reasonable, but not for what we ended up getting. The only good part of the show was the band that played first. They were great. However, there seemed to be some miscommunication from the event management because the band they still had bright lights on when the fireworks started. Not that you could see the fireworks anyway, because they were completely obscured by the courthouse. The spot we chose had the best view in previous years, so this was super disappointing. We walked to the bridge to get a better view, but it was still disappointing. The music seemed very random and it didn’t sync with the show at all. There were also some songs that had almost no fireworks launched throughout. Also, they skipped the national anthem, which they’ve always done before. Overall, none of the fireworks were very impressive, there was no sense of continuity and it was unclear when it started and ended, and the show was short and mostly obscured. Spent $70, waited 2 hours, left extremely...

We traveled from the Chicagoland area for “the best fireworks display in Iowa”. We waited over three hours for a 15 minute display (this may be generous) in which there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to what was going on. There were pauses in between. People were asking if it was over and then another 1 or 2 were shot off. The “finale” was the biggest joke. We honestly had no clue what was going on. We only knew it was actually over because they put the street lights back on. Safe to say we will never be attending again and will not recommend to a...

One of the best firework displays in Iowa. Great viewing areas around the river.

The festival itself is kid friendly and has some nice snack options (though lines get long). If we go back, next time we'll find a place outside the free area and enjoy the fireworks from their. But we went with teens and didn't have little kids that the festival seems to be...