July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Wilmette

WILMETTE, IL — Independence Day is fast approaching, so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Wilmette, 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 Wilmette and the surrounding area.

Wilmette July 3 Festivities For 2024

What: Yankee Doodle Dash 5K
When: 8 a.m.
Where: Gillson Park

There is no on-site registration for the traditional run through the streets of Wilmette, so participants must register before midnight on June 30. The fee is $35, and participants receive shirts, medals and a chance to grab a beer at the finish line from partners Double Clutch Brewing and Ravinia Brewing. Read more...

What: Star Spangled Splash
When: 1 to 3 p.m.
Where: Centennial Park

The park will host a variety of free family activities, including carnival games, face painting and a bounce house. There will also be a confetti "Fireworks Show" among other attractions. Additionally, Centennial pools will be open from 2-6 p.m. with swimming free for residents. Read more...

What: Wilmette July 3 Fun and Fireworks
When: Live music begins at 5 p.m., fireworks are set to begin at 9:30 p.m.
Where: Gillson Park (map)

The free event will feature vendors from C&W Market Ice Cream, Chabad Wilmette, Domino’s Pizza, Grecian Kitchen, La Cocinita, Mustard’s Last Stand and Sweet Tooth Donuts & Crepes. There are no ATMs on site and the event is cash-only. Read more...

Winnetka July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Firecracker 5K Run
When: Check-in at 7 a.m., 7:30 a.m. start
Where: Green Bay Trail, 130 Wilson Street

Chicago Race Management will track time and post live results throughout the five-kilometer race.

What: Winnetka Fourth of July Parade
When: 10 a.m.
Where: Starts at Elm Street and Glendale Avenue, heads east down Elm Street and finishes at Village Green Park, 525 Maple St..

What: Events on the Green
When: 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Where: Village Green Park

The local Fourthfest events will include the traditional flag-raising ceremony, a children’s flag parade, family foot races, face-painting, inflatables, rides and more

What: Winnetka 4th of July Fireworks and Concert
When: Live music from 7 p.m., fireworks from 9:20 p.m.
Where: Duke Child's Field, 1321 Willow Road

A concert from Shout Out and a performance by the Jesse White Tumblers are scheduled to take place before Winnetka's July 4, 2024, fireworks show. Read more...

Evanston July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Evanston Fourth of July Parade
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Central Street

Former 5th Ward Ald. Robin Rue Simmons, the chair of the Evanston Reparations Committee and founder of the nonprofit FirstRepair, will be the grand marshal for the 2024 Evanston 4th of July Parade, which has a theme of "Seeds of Change."

“Every year, we choose a theme that we hope will help inspire people to participate in the Celebration,” Tracy Alden, the president of the Evanston Fourth of July Association, said in a statement.

"We heard from people that they see the Celebration as mostly about family and friends, and our country, and that they’re really proud of Evanston’s diversity," Alden said. "But in the past, not everyone felt welcome by the small group of residents who originally founded the Celebration, and we’d like to make sure that’s never the case again — thus this theme.”

Other featured participants will include the Chesterton High School Trojan Guard Marching Band, Eclipse Drum & Bugle Corp, Four Star Brass Band, Wilmette Community Band, The Illinois Wheelmen, Jesse White Tumbling Team, Asociacion de Charros de la Mesa, South Shore Drill Team, Midwest Chapter - Model T Ford Club, Chicago Honey Bears Dancers, Chicago Highlanders and Los Paisanos Mariachi Band.

The parade heads east from Central Street and Central Park Avenue to Ashland Avenue, the location of Ryan Field. Chairs and blankets may not be placed on parkway until 6 a.m. on July 1, according to city ordinance. Read more...

What: Evanston 4th of July Concert and Fireworks
When: 7:30 p.m. concert, 9:30 p.m. fireworks
Where: Arrington Lakefront Lagoon at Dawes Park, Sheridan Road and Church Street. 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.