This weekend in Gulf and Franklin

With holiday festivities planned, the next few days in Gulf and Franklin Counties are going to be busy. Take a look at some of the things going on this weekend in the list below.

Fourth of July Fireworks in Gulf County

Port St. Joe, Wewahitchka and Mexico Beach will be holding fireworks shows to mark the Fourth of July. For more details, click here.

Independence Day events in Franklin County

There’s going to be four straight nights of fireworks in Franklin County over the Independence Day holiday, and lots of celebration surrounding them.

• Eastpoint will get the ball rolling with its second annual Freedom Festival on Saturday, July 1. The festival begins at 4 p.m., with fireworks set to go off roughly in the 9 to 9:30 p.m. range. Food trucks will be parked around the former Ard’s Service Station and Tires, with School Road and Shuler Street closed off. Ronnie Segree will kick off the music at 4:30 p.m., with the Red Pirate house band starting about 90 minutes after that, and then the headliner, the Ashley Morgan Band, sometime before 8 p.m. The organizers plan to offer free hot dogs and shaved ice to kids. For more info email info@eastpointfl.org
• Carrabelle, on Sunday, July 2, will shut down its 4th Street Boat Ramp, to set up for fireworks, with the Marine Street and Timber Island ramps remaining open. The third annual Unofficial cart, bike and scooter parade will line up at George Sands Park at 5:30 p.m. and at 6 p.m. will go from the park to Marine Street and back. Old-fashioned wagon rides for the kids will follow immediately after the parade at the park, sponsored by the Carrabelle Chamber of Commerce. The fireworks over the Carrabelle River will begin at dark-thirty, sponsored by the city of Carrabelle.
• Apalachicola will host an all-day Monday, July 3 Independence Day Eve celebration, featuring all-local food trucks plus food booths hosted by area nonprofits. The Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce’s event at Riverfront Park will have inflatables for the kids, a hot dog eating contest at 3:30 p.m., and the Red, White and Blue parade organized by Franklin’s Promise Coalition at 6:30 p.m. beginning at Lafayette Park. Music from Scratch 2020 and The Ashley Morgan Band will be featured, and then fireworks at dark-thirty.
• St. George Island will host a parade on Tuesday, July 4, with the lineup starting at 10:30 a.m. at West First Street and West Pine Avenue, roughly near Mango Mikes. The parade starts at 11 a.m. In the evening there will be fireworks in front of the Blue Parrot Oceanfront Cafe, starting at dark-thirty.

Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Festival

The July 4 festivities will get started early, with the seventh annual Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Festival on July 2. The Festival will include music, food trucks, turtle talks, educational displays, arts and crafts vendors, and activities for kids. For more details, click here.

Salt Air Farmers Market

Shop local farmers and artisans. Let your family enjoy art pieces and the amazing flavors of fresh veggies, sweet tupelo honey and vine-ripened fruit. Open the first and third Saturdays of the month, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT in downtown Port St. Joe.

This Little Town exhibit

The Joe Center for the Arts is hosting “This Little Town,” a multimedia exhibition on display through July 28.  “This Little Town” offers a variety of content consisting of 58 juried works by area artists which creatively express the Port St Joe milieu through drawings, paintings, and photography. The Joe Center for the Arts is located at 201 Reid Avenue in Port St. Joe. This Little Town is open to the public on Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.