Firefighters Freedom Festival sets records

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Firefighters Freedom Festival set a new record with Thursday night’s show.

Organizers say attendance was booming.

“We had upwards of 15,000 people, which was our highest number ever. There were more people here than years past,” Madison County Fire Marshal Don Friddle said.

This year’s festival included all types of games, food, carnival rides and live music.

Even with the larger than usual crowd, Friddle says the event had a community feel.

“The whole goal of the festival is to be community oriented, bringing it back to the way it used to be, neighbors talking to neighbors,” Friddle said.

Now, the cleanup effort begins.

“It’s probably going to take us a good couple of days to get everything cleaned up,” Friddle said. “If there is any trash that’s along the highways or any of the parking lots, we want to get that picked up.”

He emphasized how important sponsors are for the festival.

“We couldn’t do a festival like this without the support of the community, the business community, in Jackson,” Friddle said.

The other major event in West Tennessee on July 4 was the Festival of the Lakes in Lexington. Organizers there expected around 5,000 in attendance.