July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Independence Day is fast approaching so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Marblehead. 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 Marblehead and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Marblehead July 4 Fireworks & Harbor Illumination
Where: Marblehead Harbor
When: 9 p.m.

The Harbor Illumination is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. when flares are lit all around the perimeter of the harbor, creating a ring of light that sets the stage for the main event at 9:15 when the fireworks are launched off a barge at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor, which creates ideal viewing opportunities for the public from the parks at Fort Sewall, Chandler Hovey Park, and Crocker Park, as well as from boats.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Marblehead Harbormaster have established a safety perimeter around the fireworks barge, so boaters should use caution when entering or leaving Marblehead harbor during the Fourth and avoid the safety zone that will be marked by four orange marker buoys and will be patrolled by our volunteer civilian barge patrol flying orange privileged vessel flags.

If the fireworks must be canceled due to severe weather conditions, an announcement will be posted on the website and the rain date is planned for July 5.

Today, 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.