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In years past, the City of Sanger held multiple small events over a week to celebrate the 4th of July. As the city grew, it was evident that Sanger needed its first large event. We decided to hold our event at our Porter Park Sports Complex. The goal was to provide a grand 4th of July celebration for the residents, visitors, and surrounding communities. Additionally, we wanted to have fireworks. They had never been approved or used for any events held in the City. We wanted to have something for everyone, fun activities for the kids, local vendors for shopping, a variety of food options, live music, and a 20-minute firework show set to music to wrap up the evening.
Marketing approached the City Council for permission to have fireworks in the City. Once that hurdle was approved, the planning and marketing began. We put out a call for vendors, and we were met with an overwhelming response. We had more than 100 inquiries about participating and were able to quickly fill our 60 open spots with a variety of different vendors.
As the planning continued, the City officials agreed that our goal would be positive feedback in person and through social media and attendance of 2000 - 2500 people.
On July 2nd, we all held our breath to see what would happen. The event consisted of a field of water slides, a carnival, 60 vendors, and live music throughout the day. Brandon Davis, a country music rising star who had recently toured with Tim McGraw, closed the performances. The grand finale was a 20-minute fireworks show.
The results: Attendance for the event far exceeded our expectations. We had more than 5000 people at the event. We even had a family from out of state track down our Marketing Director just to say they heard about the event and decided to check it out.
Our vendors were super excited, and more than half have already committed to the 2023 event. All of the food vendors reported that they ran out of food. Our merchandise vendors stated that they had record sales!
Feedback was 100% positive from the community. Even those residents that were unable to attend the event were sure to contact the City officials to let them know that the fireworks were beautiful and could be seen from all over town.
Plans for the 2023 Freedom Fest are underway. It promises to be bigger and better than the 2022 event. Stay tuned!
Nomination Title: City of Sanger Freedom Fest
