The Bulloch County Recreation and Parks Department and Cardinal LG are excited to present the 2024 Firecracker Fest at Mill Creek Regional Park in Statesboro on Saturday, June 29, 2024 from 5pm - 10pm.
This free event will include several inflatables, live music, vendors, and kids’ activities, as well as the traditional Frog Jumping Contest. If you plan on participating in the Frog Jumping Contest, please bring your own frog to Field 3 for registration starting at 4:30pm. For the finale, Briggs and Stratton will sponsor the fireworks show, which will take place around 9:15pm.
Entertainment
The music lineup this year includes Color the Night Band. These all-pro players perform a huge variety of party music from the past five decades: from classic rock to funk, R&B to 80’s. Color The Night Band will be on stage from 5:30pm to 7pm and 7:45pm to 9:15pm. Chris and Ashlee Mitchell will fill the 7-7:45pm slot and Ashlee will be delivering the National Anthem.
The Firecracker Fest has been a Statesboro tradition for many, many years.
“The Firecracker Fest is a great event for everyone in our community and we are proud to be able to host each year,” says Kimberly Sharpe, Event and Communication Coordinator of BCRPD. “We have partnered with our public safety organizations to coordinate this event and we will do everything we can to help our guests have a safe, fun Independence Day celebration.”
Traffic Plan
The Bulloch County Recreation and Parks Department wants everyone to be safe this holiday and have worked with local law enforcement and the Georgia Highway Patrol to create a traffic plan for this event.
Starting at 8:45pm, no traffic will be allowed down Highway 24 from the 301 Bypass to the recycling center just past the main entrance to Mill Creek Regional Park.
From 9:30pm until 10:30pm, traffic will exit out of the main entrance of the park using both lanes. Both lanes will be directed left onto Highway 24. Traffic exiting from residences and businesses across Highway 24 from Mill Creek Regional Park will only be allowed to turn right (west) onto Highway 24. Both lanes of Highway 24 will go straight to the by-pass. The right lane of Highway 24 will be allowed to travel right onto the by-pass or straight on Highway 24/East Main. The left lane of Highway 24 will be directed left onto the by-pass.
Traffic exiting out of the recycling center exit at Mill Creek will turn right onto Highway 24 only. The back entrance to Mill Creek Park is no longer property of Bulloch County and cannot be used to access the park.
All cars from Mill Creek Elementary will be directed right onto Beasley Road to Highway 80. Traffic exiting from Bible Baptist, Trinity Church, and Barnes Lumber will be directed right onto Highway 24 to the by-pass for access to Highways 80 and 301.
Exiting preference will be given to people parked in designated areas within Mill Creek Regional Park.
Any traffic wishing to travel down Hwy 24 after 8:45pm will be rerouted to Hwy 80 east to Burkhalter Road where you will turn left and travel down to Zettwell Road and turn left again. This will take you back to Hwy 24 on the opposite side of Mill Creek Regional Park.
Event Sponsors
This event could not be possible without the support of many sponsors and the community.
This year’s Firecracker Fest is sponsored by:
For more information on the 2024 Firecracker Fest, please call (912) 764-5637 or visit www.bullochrec.com.
That's not all! Mill Creek hosting GRPA State Competition Premier Baseball Tournaments
This year's Firecracker Fest will also mark the finale of two premier tournaments for the GRPA State competition, which will be held at Mill Creek Park from June 25 to June 29, 2024.
For information about the tournaments, including the schedule, see GRPA State Baseball Tournaments - Bulloch Co Recreation and Parks.
Tournament details
Tournaments: GRPA Class A/B 10u Boys Machine and Class A/B 12u Boys Traditional Baseball State Tournaments
Bulloch County Recreation and Parks submitted a bid application last October, which Kimberly Sharpe presented in front of the State Athletic Committee in December, and they were awarded the tournaments. These two are the premier tournaments for GRPA State competition. They could see up to 32 teams maximum, though it will likely be around 24-26. Teams will come from the 7 Districts around the state. Teams must compete in their local district tournament and finish 1st or 2nd in order to advance to state. District tournaments will be hosted around the state from June 4th – June 15th
Bulloch County teams won state in 10u in 2022 and 2015.
The tournaments will begin on Tuesday at 5pm and Wednesday – Friday tournaments will begin at 9am.
"If you want to watch some good baseball, come on out to the park next week," says Dee Cosby, Athletics Manager for BCRPD.
The departments that will be in town for the upcoming tournament are as follows:
10U Boys: Bulloch, Peach Co, Coffee Co, Sumter Co, Emanuel Co, Wayne Co #2, Lyons, Savannah, Colquitt Co, Calhoun, Warner Robins and Wayne Co #1
12U Boys: Bulloch. Wayne Co #1, Savannah, City of Tucker, Emanuel Co, Sumter Co, Coffee Co, Summerville, Vidalia