MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s first annual Freedom Fest on July 1 and 2 is shaping up to be one of the biggest and best celebrations in the area this year and will give locals an entire weekend to celebrate our freedoms, rather than just on the Fourth of July.

The two-day festival comes a few years after budget constraints forced Moses Lake officials to cancel the city’s annual fireworks display. The Moses Lake Farmers Market swooped in, took up the cause and organized the last two events. The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce stepped in this year, thanks, in part, to a substantial tourism grant.

“It is the first year for us taking it over and creating it into a full two-day festival and it kind of spurred off of last year. The Port (of Moses Lake) did their 50th celebration with an air show, we have some new industrial tenants out there that were very interested in continuing having an air show,” Chamber Executive Director Debbie Doran-Martinez explained. “So we thought what a great way to pair the fireworks with that in one combined event.”

Community input was gathered on the idea and born out of that was the Moses Lake Freedom Fest. A lot of members of the community have wondered why the fireworks and festival are being held on July 1 and 2, instead of on Independence Day.

“Fireworks are expensive,” Doran-Martinez said with a chuckle. “And so we had to obtain a grant and in that grant proposal we needed to create a multiple day event that would attract tourists to our area. So somebody traveling from 50 miles or more. It’s pretty hard to do that on a Tuesday night, when people have to be at work on Monday. It just depends how the holiday falls.”

“I know there is a lot of people upset that it’s not on Independence Day, but in my mind it just gives us four days to celebrate our freedoms, rather than one.”

The celebration begins at 8 a.m. on July 1 at McCosh Park with the Moses Lake Farmers Market opening until 1 p.m. A food truck rodeo is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., along with family activities from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The next scheduled event is the presentation of colors and parade of veterans at the Centennial Amphitheater from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

From 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. a beer and wine garden will be open for people aged 21 and over. There will also be a chance to listen to live music, as Rocklyn Road, a country rock/rockabilly group, will take the stage from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Cover Story, a classic rock and country band, will be performing from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Crow and the Canyon, a bluegrass group, will be finishing off the live music from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The grand finale is set to kick off at 10 p.m. with a fireworks display that is promised to light the Columbia Basin sky.

The festival continues on Sunday across town at the Grant County International Airport, 7810 Andrews St NE, with an air and auto show. The event will feature a beer and wine garden from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the presentation of colors at the 87 “Forgotten Heroes” memorial at 10 a.m. and a static air show, classic car show, paper airplane contest, food trucks and other activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The chamber is still looking for sponsors for the weekend. For more information visit www.moseslakefreedomfest.com or contact 509-765-7888.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.