More than 50 years later, Liberty Fest Edmond tradition still a big hit

Liberty Fest Edmond 2023 kicked off Wednesday night with the Ballet and Band Concert at Hafer Park, starring the OKC Ballet and the 77th Army Band.

 

As many things do, Liberty Fest had humble beginnings over a cup of coffee 51 years ago in 1972 at the Around the Corner Café with the likes of Ray Rogers, Mark Winters, A.C. Caplinger and others. 

 

Businesses joined the festivities the following year in Stephenson Park, quickly growing the event to 1,000 attendees. Since then, Liberty Fest Edmond has grown to be the largest Independence Day celebration in the state and, arguably, one of the largest in the country.

 

A non-profit 501(c)3 organization, Edmond’s Fourth of July Festival operates 100% on volunteers and continues to wow attendees year after year. This year should be no different. 

 

There is a lineup of events that will continue through July 4th, including the rodeo; the car show & ParkFest; Concert in the Park; the patriotic radio show; and the Liberty Sprint, parade and fireworks closing the festival out on Independence Day.

 

As The Edmond Way covers the Liberty Fest this year, we are asking the community to send us your photo highlights from the events. We would love to share your experiences through photos and we will publish a gallery of the best photos in our e-edition. For photo submissions, please message or post responses on our Facebook page or email your digital photo to sales@theedmondway.com.

 

We love to hear from festival-goers like Gary Sparks, who notes the “watermelon brought us here in the first place” back in 1977 before Pelican Bay was Pelican Bay and even before they lived in Edmond in 1983. 

 

Others are a little newer to the tradition, like Melissa Bennett and family, whose first experience with the festival was the parade in 2018 a couple months after moving to Edmond from Utah.

 

David Yarbrough points out one of his favorite reasons for coming to the Liberty Fest events is he “enjoys the community togetherness.” 

 

From the committed long-time attendees to the first-time celebrators, help us share that togetherness by sharing your experiences with us.