Channel 44 news office during the Freedom Festival Parade. This is the corner of Riverside Dr. and Main St. This building still stands, although it is now occupied by WNIN, a PBS affiliate. The cranes along the river are there to lift the hydroplanes into and out of the water for Thunder on the Ohio, Thunder was an unlimited hydroplane race presented during the Freedom Festival. It has not been presented since 2009. The Evansville Freedom Festival was an annual festival in Evansville, Indiana that celebrates the Fourth of July. What began in 1970 with only a handful of events has grown to include unlimited boat racing, airshows, food booths, dances, and music culminating with a fireworks show over the Evansville riverfront.