Organizers hope to draw 10,000 downtown July 6
Freedom Fest is fast approaching, and organizers hope to draw 10,000 people downtown for live music, arts and crafts vendors, fireworks and more.
July 6 is the date set aside to celebrate the country’s birthday and Columbia’s bicentennial.
Jacob Harrison, who is coordinating the event for Experience Columbia LLC, said the overall goal is “to provide really fun, family entertainment and to bring people into Columbia to shop. We want people to know Columbia is a really great place to live.”
The biggest change this year is a $5 per person entrance fee. Harrison said the charge is to offset the cost of putting the festival together and that children under 2 are free.
He emphasized that the city is not running the festival and said Experience Columbia intends to reimburse the city for any expenses it might incur for things like extra police or fire presence and cleanup.
“This is not the city putting it on, but this is to cover costs and to reinvest into the community and reimburse the city,” Harrison said.
Experience Columbia was formed in April by Kristian Agoglia of Looks Great Services, who helped lead the Christmas festivities last year. Experience Columbia will also be organizing the Christmas lights and other events in the future.
Main Street Columbia organized Freedom Fest last year.
At Freedom Fest the activities will begin at 2 p.m. that Saturday with the monthly Cruise-In hosted by the Columbia Gearheads. Harrison said they are hoping for 300 vehicles for the Cruise-In. Last year it was close to 250 cars that participated.
The official start of Freedom Fest will be at 4 p.m.
The main entertainment will be The Chee-Weez, a band from Covington, La. that covers ‘80s and ‘90s music. Opening for The Chee-Weez is Columbia’s own Bailey Montgomery, otherwise known as Elsie.
The stage will be just south of the intersection of Main Street and Second Street. Harrison said the reasoning to place the stage there instead of in front of the courthouse is to allow vendors and activities to take place up and down Second Street and still be able to see the stage.
In addition to the music, the trolley, which was introduced during the Christmas celebration downtown, will be running. The trolley will go from the courthouse to Bluff Street Park, where the organizers are planning for an art show to be set up.
The children’s train, which was also popular during the Christmas festivities, will be running as well.
Like last year, there will be a BAC-sanctioned barbecue cook-off, and proceeds from the cook-off will benefit the Columbia Fire Department.
There is plenty of room for vendors including arts and crafts and food. There are two different sizes available: a 10-foot-by-10-foot spot for $50 or a 10-foot-by-20-foot spot for $75. Harrison said there are about 40 vendors signed up now, and he is hoping to have close to 80.
There will be a splash pad and other activities for the children on Second Street.
Another new activity this year is a cake decorating contest to celebrate Columbia’s bicentennial. There is a $25 entry fee, and cakes will be judged by local and area experts. There will be prizes for first, second and third place. Walmart is sponsoring the contest and is donating a Kitchen Aid mixer and cash prizes.
In this election year, politicians will be able to purchase a time slot to speak from the stage and address the crowd. There will be a set time frame to local politicians and also later in the evening for state politicians to speak.
The evening will end with fireworks, though Harrison hopes people will stick around afterwards and take the time to just talk to one another and enjoy the evening.
Harrison said there is a back-up plan in case of bad weather. Should it become obvious within a day or two before the event that the weather will be bad, the event will move to the Columbia Expo Center. Last year an afternoon thunderstorm caused flash flooding downtown, resulting in cancellation of the rest of the event, including fireworks.
