10th Annual Firefighters Freedom Festival to be held July 4th

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Fireworks, food and plenty of fun is coming back to Madison County on the Fourth of July.

The Madison County Fire Department is hosting their 10th Annual Firefighters Freedom Festival. Chief Eric Turner talks about why this event was started in the first place.

“So about eleven years ago –we took a year off for COVID — our idea was to provide a safe environment for people to enjoy their Fourth,” Chief Turner said. “We were seeing an uptick in fires regarding consumer grade fireworks and injuries from consumer grade fireworks. We wanted to come up with something to do on the Fourth to keep that stuff from happening.”

The festival, which started as a simple fireworks show, has grown into one of the biggest events of the summer. There will be plenty of vendors, games, rides, music and so many things to do throughout the day.

“Gates open at three [p.m.]. That’s when we open up the parking lot, people start parking, that’s when we open the gates,” Turner said. “That’s when the rides will be open for the public. So they’ll be open at three as well. We have an opening ceremony at five. That’s when we will go on the stage and welcome everybody in, have a few guest speakers. Then the Kimberlie Helton Band cranks up at five-thirty. They’ll be our band throughout the evening.”

Chief Turner says they have made this not only a must-see event every year, but also a safe event to bring the entire family.

“They felt the same way as us,” Turner said. “It was a good, safe environment for them to come and be a part of. They feel safe to let their kids go and ride rides. We have uniformed sheriff’s deputies at the event all the time patrolling along with uniformed firefighters, just making sure everybody is safe and it’s a safe environment.”

Chief Turner says this event is completely funded from donations, most of which come from local businesses.

The free event is located at the McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, at 308 Grady Montgomery Drive in Jackson.

For more news in the Jackson area, click here.