4th of July preparations underway across West Tennessee

LEXINGTON, Tenn. — Preparations have been underway for local Fourth of July festivals.

Kim Douglass of the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce says roughly 5,000 people are expected to attend the Festival of the Lakes event Thursday on Beech Bake in Lexington.

“There’s nothing better than watching the fireworks over the lake,” Douglass said. “They do shoot them off from the dam here.”

Setup began early Wednesday afternoon with around 14 vendors expected at the Lexington event. There’s also a new display by the Lexington Fire Department that will showcase fire safety and sprinkler systems.

There’s going to be a lot of people here, and we just thought it was a prime place to bring it and put it up, so the more we can get out here to look at it and see the demonstration,” Assistant Fire Chief Jon Maness said.

Douglass says during the festivities Thursday, people need to be mindful of keeping their surroundings clean.

“The thing that TVA has impressed upon us this year is just help us keep everything clean,” Douglass said.

In Madison County, the sixth annual Firefighters Freedom Festival will take place by the McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, an event that always draws plenty of people.

“The first year we’ve had 5,000. The most we’ve had is 12,000,” said Kim Turner, office administrator for the Madison County Fire Department.

Plenty of work is still needed, but organizers say rides and entertainment will be ready to go when they open around 3 p.m. Thursday.

“We have 15 vendors, everything from fish to barbecue, to ice cream and slushies — we got everything,” Turner said. “We’re looking forward to some good food and some fun times.”

For details about the events, visit Henderson County Chamber of Commerce and Madison County Fire Department Facebook pages for more.

Fireworks for both locations are expected to start around 9 p.m.