Three days of Southwest Georgia Independence Day celebrations lined up for the weekend

SYLVESTER — After a year of being shut in due to COVID-related cancellations of Fourth of July celebrations, this weekend will be a chance to hear big booms and see fireworks light up the sky around southwest Georgia.

Sylvester is kicking off the Independence Day observance starting at 6 p.m. Friday, with music at the H.H. Woolard Center, with 18 vendors lined up for the festivities. Fireworks will follow at the 709 Wallace St. site at 9:45 p.m.

“I think people are getting out more than they were,” Sylvester Main Street Manager Karen Singletary said. “I think they’re getting tired of sitting home because of COVID.”

After skipping 2020 due to the pandemic, the Sylvester event that kicked off in 2018 will return for the fourth year this week. The city also has had a concert each month beginning in the spring, with “sip and stroll” events featuring music and the opportunity to shop in downtown Sylvester.

“We have lots of concerts and lots of fun,” Singletary said. “We’ve been kind of going at it since April.”

Other area 4th of July events include:

Saturday:

Dawson — fireworks, 9 p.m. at the Terrell County Recreation Field on Jimmy Raines Road;

Camilla — Fourth of July Festival & Fireworks, from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. The festival will feature a small engine parade at 8:30 p.m. with fireworks scheduled to begin at 9:30;

Fort Gaines — Fireworks at the Fort, starts at dusk at the East Bank on Georgia Highway 39 North.

Sunday:

Albany — Downtown Celebration and Fireworks Show, starting at 5 p.m. at the Veterans Park Amphitheater;

Baconton — fireworks with festivities beginning at 7 p.m. at the city ball field on Lester Road;

Cordele — Fireworks on the Flint, 7 p.m. at the Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park.

For the Albany festival, local streets will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the Broad Avenue bridge and part of Front Street from Oglethorpe Boulevard to Whitney Avenue. At 1:30 p.m. Sunday, an additional portion of Front Street will be closed stretching to the roundabout at the intersection of Pine Avenue,

On West Broad Avenue the portion between Front Street and the rear parking lot of the Hilton Garden Inn also will be closed at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

File Photo: Yaz Johnson