Attendance up at annual Firefighter Freedom Festival

JACKSON, Tenn. — The Madison County Fire Department brought back their annual Firefighters Freedom Festival this year.

Those who attended got to enjoy live music, food, and a firework show.

This was the seventh Freedom Festival, though last year’s was cancelled due to COVID, but Madison County Fire Chief Eric Turner says, this year, people wanted to get out more than ever.

“I would have to say this is probably our largest crowd we’ve ever had, so definitely up from the year before last when we had it. The attendance was up,” Chief Turner said.

He says while they have the event to bring fun to the community, the fire department also does this to make sure that the county is using the proper safety precautions around fireworks.

“We were seeing an uptick in fire-related fires due to fireworks and injuries, so that is what started this and we have seen a decrease in those since we started having the Firefighters Freedom Festival,” Chief Turner said.

This year, Chief Turner says they achieved what they were hoping to do in the community.

“I’m happy to report that we had no fire-related fires due to fireworks yesterday, which has been the trend since we started doing the Firefighters Freedom Festival. We have only had one or two on the Fourth,” Chief Turner said.

Turner says they hope to keep the safety trend going with the festival in the future.