New Freedom Festival scavenger hunt to entertain and teach participants

By Derek Gurr

America’s Freedom Festival is adding a new event to its large variety of activities as the “Freedom Hunt” makes its debut today.

Starting today, the Freedom Festival will reveal the first of six clues on its Facebook and Twitter pages, leading players to treasures located throughout the Provo-Orem area. In each location, treasures or “artifacts” will be awarded to the first 30 people to arrive. The clues will be revealed every Monday and Thursday at an undisclosed time until May 20 when a winner will be chosen.

“This is a great way for people to get outside and have some fun this spring,” said Paul Warner, executive director of America’s Freedom Festival, in a news release.

On May 20, the clue will lead to one final location where instead of finding an artifact, the first person to arrive will receive the grand prize: two tickets to the Stadium of Fire and a pre-show reception with Carrie Underwood. The second-place winner will also win two tickets to the Stadium of Fire.

Underwood is a two-time winner of the Entertainer of the Year trophy. The popular country singer is a former American Idol star, having taken home the crown in 2005 during the show’s fourth season.

The activity is meant to be fun and educational. Clues will help participants learn about their heritage both as Utahns and as Americans. Freedom Festival officers will moderate the game and award the grand prize.

“All of our clues are going to have elements of American history and local pride,” said Emory Cook, public relations representative for the Freedom Festival. “It is also a way to engage the community in patriotic activities.”

According to its website, the Freedom Festival is one of the biggest and best patriotic programs in the nation. It is designed to “strengthen the traditional American values of family, freedom, God, and country.” The Stadium of Fire is the Freedom Festival’s crowning event and will be on July 3 at 8 p.m.

All interested are welcome to join in the fun. For more information, or to see the first clue, visit Freedom Festival’s Facebook page at facebook.com/FreedomFestival or on Twitter at twitter.com/FreedomFestProvo. Those interested can also look for information on the Freedom Festival’s website at freedomfestival.org/ events/freedom-hunt/.

If the scavenger hunt is successful this year, it will continue in years to come as a new tradition in the Freedom Festival, organizers said.

This article was published on May 3, 2010 by the Daily Universe, BYU’s student newspaper sponsored by the BYU Department of Communications.