July 4th 2025 Fireworks, Events Around Highland Park

HIGHLAND PARK, 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 Highland Park.

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 Highland Park and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2025

Fourth of July Community Festival in Highland Park

The Preserve of Highland Park - July 3 at 5:30 p.m.

This year’s reimagined celebration will be the kick-off to a variety of inclusive Independence Day-themed activities continuing July 4th and throughout the weekend.

Fourth of July Remembrance and Parade

City Hall and Downtown Highland Park - July 4 at 9 a.m.

The City will host a remembrance in the morning of July 4, 2025 to honor the memories of the people whose lives were taken and share solidarity with those who were injured or traumatized. This year’s parade theme is a celebration of all that brings us together. Whether that’s family or friends, sports, dance, faith, community or neighborhood, tap into team spirit as Highland Park’s community-focused parade returns to Downtown Highland Park

18th Annual Lake Forest Festival and Fireworks

400 Hastings Rd. - July 4 at 5 p.m.

Spend your Fourth of July holiday under the stars at the 18th Annual Lake Forest Festival and Fireworks!

Rock in the USA Festival and Fireworks In Waukegan On July 4, 2025

175 N. Harbor Place - July 4 at 6 p.m.

The Rock in the U.S.A. Festival will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on July 4, 2025, at 175 N. Harbor Place in Waukegan. The festivities will include music followed by fireworks overlooking Lake Michigan.

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.