July 4th 2025 Fireworks, Events Around Barnstable

BARNSTABLE, MA — 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 Barnstable.

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 Barnstable and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2025

Village Parades

The Barnstable-West Barnstable Parade is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 4. Patriotic-themed floats will parade through Barnstable Village with youth activities afterward at the Hollow playground area, officials said.

A rain date is set for July 5.

The Centerville Bike Parade is set for 10 a.m. on July 4, with kids and parade participants assembling at the Centerville Elementary School, 658 Bay Lane, starting at 9 a.m.

After raising the flag, reciting the pledge of allegiance and singing "America the Beautiful", a Centerville-Osterville-Marstons Mills Fire Truck and the Scout Troop 54 Color Guard will lead those walking, riding decorated bicycles, pulling floats and pushing strollers to proceed onto Bumps River Road, Park Avenue and onto Main Street, ending at the Centerville Recreation Building rear parking lot.

Once there, parade participants will be served hot dogs, ice cream, cotton candy and water with other activations planned. Awards will be given for the best-decorated bikes.

Cotuit's Parade begins at 11 a.m. on School Street, with some walkers and fire vehicles lining up on High Street. The parade proceeds down School Street and turns left onto Main Street before continuing down Main Street to the old Cotuit Elementary School property, where it ends at the public field behind the school.

The Hyannis Port Parade also kicks off at 11 a.m. at the Hyannis Port Post Office on Longwood Avenue proceeding to Washington, Lafayette, Winchester, Scudder, Dale and ending at the West Beach Club.

The annual fun run begins at 9 a.m. at the same location.

Downtown Hyannis Celebration

Downtown Hyannis has scheduled an afternoon of events leading into the evening and nighttime hours.

Things kick off at 3 p.m. with the Hyannis Harbor Boat Parade. This year, boaters who register in advance will be eligible to win prizes in their vessel size category (over and under 30’) and will receive a commemorative entry number.

Judging will take place from the Hyannis Marina dock during the parade. Boats will assemble off Hyannis Yacht Club and head to the inner harbor to show off their red, white and blue at approximately 3 p.m. before circling the inner harbor to show off their civic pride for the many hundreds of spectators that gather along the waterfront at Bismore Park and Gateway Marina.

Register your watercraft online starting May 15th. A link will be posted on the Cape Cod Maritime Museum Facebook page.

The stage at Aselton Park will get rocking at 5 p.m. with live music through 9 p.m. Food trucks will be on site and organizers are still looking for vendors. Interested parties can email the town here.

Live music will also be played on the Village Green bandstand, and the green will give space for families looking to set up a picnic or lawn games during the day of festivities.

"Mile Long Main Street" is also back in 2025 with live music, magic and more at each block along the way, from Ocean to Sea Street.

The Cape Cod Ukulele Club will perform in the Courtyard in front of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum until 7 p.m., with other musicians also popping up on corners and storefronts.

The Hyannis Arts Hub community will also have events running through the day, culminating in a party on Pearl Street, where people can make a keepsake hat and pennant, contribute to the sidewalk chalk art and see what the artists are working on this summer.

The Cape Cod Toy Library will host a magic show in the Outdoor Play Oasis next to the Hyannis Public Library at 5 p.m.

Fireworks have also been approved in Sandwich, Mashpee, Chatham, Orleans, Harwich and Osterville on varying days around the holiday.

Other Area Events

In Foxboro, Patriot Place will host its annual fireworks show on July 2.

The festivities will include live entertainment, family-friendly activities, themed photo opportunities and special appearances by Pat Patriot, the New England Patriots Cheerleaders and the New England Revolution Street Team.

The Dean College Stage will also feature live entertainment from local band American Honey from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. before the evening ends with the fireworks display around 9:15 p.m.

Boston's annual Harborfest Celebration is also back for 2025, including the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on July 4.

Keith Lockhart will lead a program featuring the Boston Pops orchestra with multi-platinum singer LeAnn Rimes, Broadway, film and television star Leslie Odom Jr., and the hip-hop trio Bel Biv Devoe. Special guests also include the U.S Army Field Band Soldiers’ Chorus and the Boston Children’s Chorus.

The concert starts at 8 p.m. with the fireworks display starting at 10:30 p.m.

History of July 4

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.