The Fourth of July is here and Columbus residents looking to get out and celebrate have several events to choose from.
Like Fireworks on the Water, or the Southside-Townsend Park Blues Festival, or the Amateur Softball Association’s Girls Coach Pitch Softball Tournament, or the Southside Heritage Association Homecoming Antique Car Show. Each one is sponsored by the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Fireworks on the Water begins at 5 p.m. at the Stennis Lock and Dam. Fireworks begin after sundown.
Meanwhile, the Southside-Townsend Park Blues Festival began Thursday and continues today and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Southside Townsend Park, according to Wendy Blunt, the Southside Benevolent Organization’s secretary.
Local musicians will perform at the park. Tonight’s program will feature gospel music, including music by the only non-local group — the Reel Brothers out of Memphis.
Local musicians on July 4 will perform blues. Candidates for various political office will also be at the event passing out campaign literature, Blunt said.
The A.S.A.’s softball tournament begins at 6 p.m. tonight and continues at 9 a.m. on July 4 and goes through the rest of the day, according to Greg Lewis, the director of the Columbus-Lowndes Parks Authority.
The tournament will be held at Propst Park. The teams are made up of 7-year-old girls. Eleven different teams from the northern part of the state will compete in the tournament. The championship game will be held at 6 p.m. The winning softball team will compete in the Overall State tournament in Ridgeland next weekend, Lewis said.
Also, the Southside Heritage Association Homecoming Antique Car Show will be held at the 11th Avenue Hank Aaron Southside Park this weekend.
The association will hold a fish fry starting at 2 p.m. today and it will continue until sundown. On Saturday, the association will hold the car show, which begins at 2 p.m. and continues until sundown.
Free food, music and drinks will be available at the event.
The CVB has given grants to each organization to host the event, according to executive director Nancy Carpenter.
The Southside Benevolent Organization spent about half of their $10,000 grant on the Blues Festival. Propst Park gets various grants for different tournaments it holds during the summer, and Carpenter says the park spent roughly $7,000 for the Girls Coach Pitch tournament. The Southside Heritage Association spent roughly $1,650 of their $3,367 grant on the car show.
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