Oxford Parks and Recreation Department hosts Freedom Festival on July 3

Oxford residents congregated at Oxford Community Park for this year’s Freedom Festival, which included live musical performances, local vendors and a fireworks show at the end of the night. 

The festival attracted a crowd of more than five thousand people on July 3 who enjoyed live music, had their faces painted or took a ride on a horse carriage among other activities. The celebration culminated in a fireworks display at 10 p.m.

This year’s festival was organized by Chad Smith, Oxford’s new director of parks and recreation, and was his first time organizing the festival. 

Smith grew up in Oxford and previously worked as the Deputy Director of Butler County Metroparks before becoming the director of parks and recreation in May. One of his first major projects involved putting on the festival, an event he has attended with his family for many years. 

“I’ve attended [the festival]  for years as a community member,” Smith said. “I’m kind of aided in that transition because I know all the facilities, know a lot of the events … but it’s neat to now see it on the inside in terms of the planning [and] the logistics.”

The celebration began at 5 p.m. with an array of recreation activities, including a horse carriage ride, face painting and bouncy castles. Attendees played cornhole, visited the food and drink trucks and set up their chairs for the fireworks later in the evening. 

When searching for vendors and amenities, Smith said an important aspect was to source local businesses. From the food trucks at the park to the performing bands, Smith wanted to involve the local community more than any large corporation. 

“We try to source local vendors the best we can,” Smith said. “You get your Kona Ice and a lot of those bigger ones, of course, but if we can have local vendors, [like] a food truck that wants to come out, we try to reach out to them as well and get them involved. It’s a great opportunity for them to service their local community.”

The live music performances included one from the Oxford Community Band, a local ensemble of players who performed festive music for the holiday. Visitors watched the performance on the basketball court while stopping by kiosks of local businesses or visiting the face painting booth. 

The Community Band played its last song of the day at 6 p.m. Flat Out, a band that plays around southwest Ohio, performed throughout the evening by the baseball fields. The band played classic country and rock and roll songs in front of a steady crowd throughout the night. 

Randy Creech, a bass guitarist and vocalist in Flat Out, enjoyed his time in Oxford and appreciated the effort from the city to put on the event. 

“We enjoyed it, we really did,” Creech said. “[There’s] good people down there, and the vendors that we were set up around were just really excellent folks, and they did a nice job. It’s always fun to play to a new crowd.”

Similar to previous years, Smith anticipated a large crowd throughout the evening and said a portion of the audience was from out of town. 

“It’s a great opportunity to expose people to the Oxford community,” Smith said. “Even though the event is outside of Uptown, it still brings a lot of people in and that helps our Uptown businesses … It helps people know where Oxford is and what Oxford is all about.”

Tracy Lane and Wayne Werner arrived at the Community Park from Brookville, Indiana. The couple has attended the festival for more than a decade and highlighted the locale of the audience as a key attraction.  

“Just community,” Werner said. “There’s not a whole lot of this in the local area on this day. I think everybody looks forward to getting together and doing this year after year.”

The beer garden issued its last call at 9 p.m. Crowd members listened to the final songs from Flat Out before flocking to the field to watch the fireworks show at 10 p.m. Smith said having the city’s official firework display one day before the Fourth of July helps Oxford stand alone and have its own celebration compared to nearby towns. 

“That’s one of the things that makes Oxford great,” Smith said. “It really is a small town. It’s your picturesque college town, but it’s also just a great community full of a diverse set of people who are all neighbors. You see everybody out at the grocery store and at the restaurants, and so a lot of the folks you end up working with for events like this are your friends and neighbors.”

The first firework sparked at 10 p.m. on the dot. Viewers watched the half-hour display from the baseball pitch, the sidewalks and park benches. 

Even though many neighboring communities, especially large cities like Cincinnati, have their own shows, Lane and Werner said the Oxford display rivals anywhere else. 

“The fireworks show is phenomenal,” Lane said. “It’s really good. It really competes with what you would see downtown Cincinnati.”

College Corner and Hueston Woods hosted two more fireworks shows on the holiday weekend, wrapping up this year’s Fourth of July festivities. Next year marks the 250th anniversary of the country, giving Smith an opportunity to put on another festival in 2026.

“I love the idea of letting the Freedom Festival continue to grow,” Smith said. “We may have an opportunity for that next year with it being the 250th anniversary of America … but we’ll take this as a learning experience and see how we can improve things in the future.”