Fireworks Near Me: Wethersfield July 4th 2025 Events

WETHERSFIELD, CT — Independence Day falls on a Friday in 2025, kicking off a star-spangled three-day weekend packed with fireworks, festivals, and other Fourth of July fun in and around Wethersfield.

To help you fit it all in on your 4th of July calendar, Patch has put together a guide to what’s going on in Wethersfield and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2025
What: Talcott Mountain Celebrate America Festival
Where: Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center (22 Iron Horse Blvd., Simsbury)
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 4

What: Hartford Bonanza
Where: Bushnell Park, Hartford (1 Jewell St., Hartford)
When: Saturday, July 5, 4 to 10 p.m.

What: Newington Life Be In It Extravaganza
Where: Mill Pond Park on Garfield Street.
When: Fireworks are Saturday, July 19, 9:30 p.m. The celebration is from Wednesday, July 16, to Saturday, July 19.

What: 2025 Southington Italian American Festival
Where: 150 Center St., Southington
When: Fireworks are on Friday, July 25, at 9 p.m. Festival is from Friday to Sunday, July 25-27.

Holiday History

Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. In that document, the 13 original colonies declared their independence from Great Britain.

During the pivotal summer of 1776, the pre-Revolutionary celebrations honoring King George III’s birthday were replaced with mock funerals as a symbolic break from the crown.

It was an exciting time in Philadelphia — the Continental Congress voted to break from the crown and, two days later on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the original 13 colonies —New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia — to adopt the Declaration of Independence.

The first annual commemoration of the nation’s independence was in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777, while the Revolutionary War was ongoing. Fireworks have been part of Fourth of July festivities since the first celebration in Philadelphia.

Today, Americans celebrate with fireworks, parades, concerts, and family gatherings and barbecues. Celebrations, though, predate by centuries the designation of Independence Day as a federal holiday, which didn’t happen until 1941.