The holiday weekend will start with a bang as Downtown Statesboro’s First Friday event offers free watermelon, music and other family fun, and the traditional Firecracker Fest at Mill Creek Regional Park will round out the weekend Monday. Friday, July 1, is the “Fun in the Sun” downtown picnic celebration “full of great food, local shopping and fun in downtown Statesboro,” said Allen Muldrew, director of the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority. Held 5:30–8 p.m. on the courthouse lawn, the event includes “local vendors, giveaways, music, food, a Party Harbor bounce house and summer fun for all ages,” he said.