Freedom Fest returned Saturday to Belmont Park for its fourth Independence Day celebration at the beachfront venue, with a 70-foot inflatable Statue of Liberty serving as the centerpiece.
Patriotic San Diegans poured out in the thousands for the festival’s sand-shaking electronic music. From humble origins in a La Jolla office, festival hosts Almost Nakey moved to Mission Beach for bigger stages and bigger stars — with hip-hop star Nelly headlining last year’s beach bash.
“It’s just continued to grow,” founder Liv Johnson told Times of San Diego prior to the event. “We’ve developed massive inflatables, we’ve built bigger stages, we’ve got more exciting talent.”
DJ Austin Millz served as this year’s headliner, making the shoreline of San Diego the finish line to his 24-hour, cross-country tour that began in New York with a pit stop in Texas. He showed little sign of fatigue as he energized the crowd…