The 23rd annual Emporia Freedom Fest continued to see a strong turnout of active military, veteran and civilian participants to kick off a week’s worth of veteran centric events in the founding city of Veterans Day.
The 2026 event had well over 300 participants with the annual Norwegian Foot March leading the way in registration. This year was also a year of change for the event, namely in its leadership as Ray Baquero was leading his first event taking over for longtime lead organizer Steve Harmon.
Baquero says it was an honor to be at the helm and added that all of the activities throughout the day are a great way to honor veterans as it gives civilians especially an opportunity to step into their shoes for just a brief moment.
In addition to the foot march, the event included the annual Dynamic Discs Freedom Fest Open, Southern Star Warrior Spur Challenge, Freedom Expo, the second year of the Kids Mini Mission Dash and the regular Freedom Rides sponsored by Lyon County State Bank. Russ Bonitatibus of LCSB says they are always proud to be a part of the festivities saying he believes everyone should feel an obligation to take the time to honor those who have laid down their lives for us.
A new addition to the events this year was the Emporia State University Salute to Service Ceremony. The ceremony, normally held on the campus of Emporia State, came to Freedom Fest through a partnership between ESU and Main Street, a partnership that Jessica Buchholz of Main Street says made a lot of sense.
Marcia Novacek of ESU agreed with Buchholz and noted that this inclusion is a part of the university’s efforts to partner with more community organizations in recent years, noting that when two likeminded organizations come together for a single cause, the impact is always greater than by working alone.
Once again, all proceeds from the day’s activities will go to support a variety of veteran causes as detailed by Baquero Saturday.
In addition to leading the way into Veterans Day week, Freedom Fest also kicked off the annual Emporia Main Street Soldier Care Package Drive which will run through December 11th. For those wishing to contribute to the care package drive, donations, either of money or items, can be dropped off at the Main Street offices during normal business hours.
You can find a list of desired items online at EmporiaMainStreet.com.
All Veterans Tribute activities continue Wednesday, on the holiday itself, with the annual All Veterans Parade and memorial service in downtown Emporia. The parade will begin at 4th Avenue on Commercial Street at 9:30 am with the memorial service beginning at 11 am at the All Veterans Memorial.
A full list of veterans tribute activities can be found at VisitEmporia.com.
Photos by Tagan Trahoon/KVOE News.
