Fireworks Near Me: Lake Forest July 4th 2024 Events

LAKE FOREST, IL — Independence Day is here, so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, which traditionally holds its festivities a day earlier. Area events include fireworks, festivals and other Fourth of July fun.

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 Lake Forest and the surrounding area.

Lake Bluff July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: 47th Annual Firemen's Ball
When: 6 to 11 p.m., July 3
Where: Lake Bluff Public Golf Course

Tickets are available at the Lake Bluff fire station, Village Hall or at the door.

What: 51st annual Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast
When: 7 to 9:45 a.m., July 4
Where: Village Green

A jazz band will perform from 7:30 to 9:45 a.m. prior to the start of the parade

What: Lake Bluff 4th of July Parade
When:10 a.m., July 4
Where: From East Center and Oak avenues on Scranton, Moffett and Sheridan to Artesian Park (map)

This year's theme is "Stars, Stripes, and Paw-triots" to celebrate the role of dogs in the community and how they symbolize qualities like freedom and companionship. The parade will feature various public art displays, including "Dogs on the Bluff," which commemorates the village's 125th anniversary. The parade marshal is The Dogs of Lake Bluff, represented by the Pugs, and Joanna Rolek will serve as master of ceremonies.

What: Band at the Beach
When: 6 to 8 p.m., July 4
Where: North Sunrise Beach

The band 28 days is set to perform at the Lake Bluff Park District event, which is sponsored by the Lake Bluff 4th of July Committee.

Lake Forest July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: July 4th Festival and Fireworks
When: 5 p.m., July 4
Where: Deerpath Community Park

The 17 annual Lake Forest festival and fireworks features openers the Shagadelics performing classic 70s rock and roll followed by headliner Dancing Queen, an ABBA cover band. Tickets are required. Read more...

These days, Americans celebrate the birth of a new nation 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.

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.