Countdown to the FOURTH

STORY BY BETSY ILER

PHOTOS BY KENNETH BOONE & BETSY ILER

Lake Martin celebrates Independence Day with flare, from the Wilmarth Fireworks Show at Wilmarth Island in Blue Creek to the annual extravaganza at Lake Martin Amphitheater, but the festivities actually begin on Friday night, June 30.

Russell Lands will open the weekend with Jonathan Bloom at 6:30 p.m. at Friday On The Green, a free family-friendly concert at Russell Crossroads. The Friday night show at Russell Crossroads is a great place to meet up with friends and family. Bring lawn chairs, blankets for the grassy lawn, picnics and the pup on a leash to kick off the holiday weekend.

Return to the Town Green on Saturday morning for the 12th annual Arti Gras juried art show. Artisans from across the Southeast will display their handmade goods for sale, from jewelry to soaps, paintings, pottery, woodwork and more. The show will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Venture into Alexander City Monday evening for the annual Celebrate Freedom event on the Benjamin Russell High School band practice field at 6 p.m. The program will include two-time Grammy winner, Jason Crabb, one of the biggest names in gospel music, followed by family-friendly comedian Mickey Bell. Colton Dixon will headline the event, which is hosted by Marshall Street Church. There will be food trucks on site. No smoking or alcohol is allowed, and no coolers. This event is free and open to the public.

Then, on Tuesday morning, jump in the boat and head to Kowaliga Marina for the Russell Marine July 4 Boat Parade. The parade starts at 10 a.m. and makes a loop to the Children’s Harbor lighthouse and back as entrants vie for cash and prizes for the tallest flag, largest flag, most patriotic crew, most creative theme and best overall boat and crew.

In Dadeville, turn out on Olana Drive for the Blue Creek area golf cart parade at 11 a.m. Park anywhere along Ponder Camp Road to collect candy and trinkets thrown by parade entries. To join the fun, meet at 10 a.m. at the end of Olana Drive. For more information, contact Mickey Forbus at 334-329-0905.

As evening draws near, settle in at the back of Blue Creek for the Wilmarth Fireworks Show, hosted by Jonathan Wilmarth from the lake’s only inhabited island. Wilmarth started the show 15 years ago with a couple hundred dollars because he didn’t want to travel from the family lake place on Wilmarth Island to see a great fireworks show. For the first few years, neighbors came out on their docks to see it, and as word spread, boats began to gather in the area, with more boats showing up every year.

Passersby began to donate money for the show, and Wilmarth adds those amounts to what he spends personally, so the spectacle has grown to one that now costs several thousand dollars, Wilmarth said, and the crew includes his brother-in-law, two cousins and some friends, who all keep safety in the forefront and work together like a well-oiled machine.

“I started it on my dock with my brother-in-law, Aaron Kovak. Then, we moved it to a neighbor’s dock; and then, a barge. Every year, it has been bigger than the year before. There are hundreds of boats that go out there and wait,” Wilmarth said.

The show starts as soon as it’s dark enough, usually sometime after 9 p.m., but the work goes on all day, as a crew of anywhere from six to 10 people prepare the set up. At showtime, they don helmets and fire suits to set off mortar boxes that fill the sky with color. The production goes on for 30 to 40 minutes. If boating is not an option, Wilmarth said, a table at Niffer’s at the Lake is a great landed viewing option. Donate to the Wilmarth Fireworks Show on Venmo @Allison-Kovak.

The weekend wraps up at Lake Martin Amphitheater with the annual concert and one of the Southeast’s largest fireworks displays. While patrons often park along the road outside the amphitheater or in boats offshore, the real show is on the ground at The AMP. Admission is a bargain at $10. Bring lawn chairs, blankets for the grassy hillside, coolers and picnics, but please leave the pup safely at home for this event.

Andrew Jannakos will headline the concert again this year, after his show was interrupted by a storm last year. He will follow local favorite, The Bank Walkers, who will open the show at 6:30 p.m. Jannakos will perform two sets – the first one at 8 p.m. before the spectacular fireworks show and the second at 9:30 p.m. after the fireworks.

A Georgia native, Jannakos has garnered a following in the many millions on streaming platforms. Three years ago, his popularity rose sharply after his wife posted a video of him cooking dinner while singing the breakout single, Gone Too Soon, which he co-wrote with Jason Afable and Josh Bricker. The clip went viral with more than 10 million views within just a few months and since then has hit 36 million views on Spotify.

Jannakos comes from music. His grandfather played in a bluegrass band, and in 2019, Jannakos built a global fan base on Season 16 of The Voice.

It’ll be a bright, colorful holiday weekend at Lake Martin. Don’t miss a minute of it.

Previous Pages: Boats gather below the hillside at Lake Martin Amphitheater for the Annual July 4 Concert and Fireworks; This Page: Clockwise from Top Left: Pull up the boat at Kowaliga at 10 a.m. July 4 for the Annual Russell Marine July 4 Boat Parade to Children's Harbor and back; Browse the tents on the Town Green at Russell Crossroads July 1 and 2 to find beautiful handmade treasures at the Arti Gras juried show; on July 3, gather on the band practice field at BRHS in Alexander City for the Annual Celebrate Freedom event hosted by Marshall Street Church; The AMP will host one of the South's most spectacular concerts and fireworks displays; Let the kids catch candy and trinkets thrown by entrants in the golf cart parade on Ponder Camp Road.