America's Freedom Festival at Provo operates on a budget of about $2 million.
The events in 2002 attracted 460,800 visitors.
The earliest published reports of Independence Day celebrations in Provo are found in the July 7, 1877, edition of the Utah County Enquirer.
For 20 years, the four Provo stakes of the LDS Church were responsible for putting on the July 4 celebration. The church used the money to help pay for its welfare program.
In 1972, LDS Activities Inc. officials asked the city of Provo to repeal its franchise so as not to threaten the church's tax-exempt status.
The Freedom Festival as we know it today came into being on Nov. 5, 1981, as Provo City Ordinance 900.
In 1982, the festival's name changed to America's Freedom Festival at Provo.
Sen. Jake Garn was the keynote speaker in 1985 after he returned from space as the first native Utahn and first U.S. senator to experience space flight.
In 1994, the festival separated from Provo city to become an independent nonprofit foundation. The foundation depends entirely on revenues from the Stadium of Fire and sponsor contributions.
Source: A History of the Freedom Festival by Marlo Jensen.