As Spark!Fishers returns this weekend, Fishers is again preparing for the kind of summer gathering that has been part of this community for nearly four decades. The name has changed. The location has changed. The event is now run by the city. But the roots go back to 1989, when the Fishers Freedom Festival began as a hometown Independence Day celebration at Holland Park.
When I moved to Fishers after marrying my wife Jane in May of 1991, the Freedom Festival was preparing for its third event. We lived in Sunblest, only a few blocks from Holland Park, and the festival quickly became one of those local traditions that helped define summer in Fishers.
The timing was always intentional. Fishers held its celebration just before the Fourth of July so it would not conflict with holiday events in nearby communities such as Carmel and Noblesville. That pattern started with the first festival in 1989 and continues today with Spark!Fishers.
According to a retrospective published for the Freedom Festival’s 25th year, the event began when founders of the Fishers Parade and Festival organized a one-day community picnic, parade and children’s games to celebrate the Fourth of July spirit, promote volunteerism and bring residents together. The response was strong enough that the festival soon grew into a two-day event.
Over the years, the Freedom Festival became one of the clearest symbols of Fishers’ identity during a period of massive population growth. By the early 2010s, reports described weekend crowds of about 50,000, with art and craft booths, business and food vendors, games, live entertainment, a 5K, fireworks and the annual parade. In 1998, the festival formally became a nonprofit, allowing it to accept tax-deductible donations.
But the festival’s success also masked a financial reality. As I reported in November 2017, trouble had been brewing for a couple of years. The city had been providing about $85,000 annually in direct cash support, along with in-kind help from city departments valued at about $45,000 each year. The Freedom Festival organization said its annual budget was about $325,000.
At the same time, Fishers officials were facing more requests from local nonprofit groups seeking city support. In earlier years, the Freedom Festival and Conner Prairie had received most, and in some years all, of the municipal money set aside for local nonprofits. Members of the Fishers City Council began pushing for more accountability, written agreements and a broader review of how public money was being distributed.
As part of the 2018 budget process, a City Council committee evaluated requests for nonprofit funding. The Freedom Festival applied, but in August 2017, the city announced its list of funded organizations and the festival was not included.
A city news release later said the Freedom Festival “was unable to demonstrate fiscal independence,” and that the nonprofit committee believed grant dollars should be spread among multiple organizations to benefit more residents. Among those receiving support were groups such as Cherish, the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation and Nickel Plate Arts.
After the funding decision, I asked Freedom Festival officials whether they could stage the 2018 event without city cash and in-kind support. The board took time to deliberate. Late on the evening of November 8, 2017, the board announced the nonprofit no longer had the financial means to operate another festival.
That set off a difficult public moment for Fishers. I recorded podcast interviews with Freedom Festival Board President Don Dragoo and City Councilman Brad DeReamer, which revealed two very different perspectives on what had happened. Mayor Scott Fadness also pushed back strongly against language in the festival’s announcement suggesting the city did not see the festival partnership as part of its vision.
“We’ve had lots of dialogue with the Fishers Freedom Festival about maybe evolving their event, or continue to adapt just like our city continues to adapt,” Fadness told me at the time. “It was not in any way about ‘I don’t believe we should have festivals’ — nothing could be further from the truth.”
The basic disagreement was clear. The Freedom Festival board wanted to preserve the traditions of the event dating back to 1989. City officials believed the festival needed to evolve financially and operationally, while preserving major pieces such as the parade, fireworks and entertainment.
There were hurt feelings. Many long-time festival volunteers were not inclined to help with a city-run version of the event. DeReamer said at the time the city would welcome those volunteers. The city also had to deal with another practical matter: the Fishers Freedom Festival organization owned the rights to the name “Fishers Freedom Festival,” and Dragoo said the nonprofit intended to hold on to those naming rights.
That meant the city needed a new name.
The result was Spark!Fishers, launched in 2018. The celebration moved from Holland Park to the Nickel Plate District, but many familiar elements remained: a 5K, music, food, a parade and fireworks. Fishers budget records said more than 100 community members helped plan that first Spark!Fishers, which city leaders framed as both a fresh start and a continuation of community tradition.
Spark!Fishers did miss one year, 2020, when the city canceled the festival because of COVID-19. But the event returned, and this weekend’s celebration is another reminder that Fishers never really gave up its pre-Fourth of July gathering.
The old Freedom Festival ended after 29 years. Spark!Fishers is now the city-sponsored successor. For those of us who remember walking over to Holland Park in the early 1990s, the change was not always easy. But the tradition survived — just with a new name, a new location and a city-run structure.