Aurora Fireworks, Event Guide For 2025

AURORA, IL — 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 Aurora.

Patch has rounded up the biggest July 4 fireworks displays and other events happening in Illinois in celebration of Independence Day. Click here to see our full Illinois list.

This is what is planned in Aurora:

Fourth of July Fireworks, DJ and Food Trucks in Aurora

• Where: McCullough Park, 150 W. Illinois Ave.; and Aurora Transportation Center, 233 N. Broadway
• When: Celebration with music and food trucks from 6-9:45 p.m. July 3. Fireworks at dusk.

Aurora's Independence Day Parade

• Where: The parade will step off at the intersection of Benton Street and Broadway. The reviewing stand will be placed in front of the David L. Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place.
• When: 10 a.m. July 4

Nearby Displays

If you're looking for other fireworks displays outside of Aurora:

Batavia

• Batavia Sky Show and Savor the Flavor Food Vendors To Celebrate Fourth of July, Engstrom Family Park, 326 Millview Drive

Bolingbrook

• 4th Of July Celebration, Fireworks 2025: Bolingbrook, Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Drive

Hinsdale

• Parade, Craft Fair & Family Festival, Downtown Hinsdale

Naperville

• Naperville Community Fireworks Show 2025, Frontier Sports Complex, 3380 Cedar Glade Road

Oswego

• Fourth of July Fireworks, Prairie Point Community Park, 4120 Plainfield Road

Sleepy Hollow

• Fireworks Display Planned For July 6, Sabatino Park, off Willow Lane and Thorobred Lane

St. Charles

• July 4 Fireworks, Langum Park, off Seventh Avenue and Madison Avenue

Wheaton

• Wheaton 4th of July Fireworks, Graf Park, 1855 Manchester Road

History of Independence Day

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.