Fireworks Near Me: Salem July 4th 2025 Events

SALEM, 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 Salem.

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 Salem and surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2025

What: Beverly Farms Pride Fireworks, Horribles Parade
Where: West Street Beach
When: Fireworks 9 p.m. on July 4

The annual Beverly Farms Pride 4th of July Fireworks are on July 4 with fireworks starting at 9 p.m. This is a ticketed event with wristbands $25 at the gate and $20 if bought prior to July 4.

Only West Beach Sticker holders may enter the beach on July 4th prior to 5 p.m. (proof of residence will be required). After 5 p.m., non-sticker holders with wrist bands will be allowed on the beach for the fireworks.

The Horribles Parade will also be held at 8 a.m. with entrants invited to assemble at 7:15 a.m. on Oak Street. Prizes will be awarded for both theme and category.

What: Salem Celebrates The 4th
Where: Derby Wharf
When: Fireworks 9 p.m. on July 4; Concert at 7 p.m.

Bring your beach blankets and folding chairs to enjoy the 42-piece Hillyer Festival Orchestra on Derby Wharf at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site for a grand celebration of our nation’s Independence Day.

Featuring a Pops concert, a Kid Space play area, and fireworks launched over Salem Harbor, this is a quintessential celebration of the 4th of July.

At 5 p.m., the Kids' Space tent, sponsored by Amazon, will open, featuring crafts, play games and prizes.

Live entertainment on the Main Stage begins at 5:30 p.m. featuring Jambalaya Horns, New Orleans flavored soul and funk favorites. The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival will be sponsoring this opening act, in celebration of the upcoming Jazz and Soul Festival this summer at the Salem Willows Shell on Aug. 16.

Food tents will be open, selling hot dogs, French fries, fried dough, kettle corn, ice cream, and other fair favorites.

Opening Ceremonies begin at 7:15 p.m. when Mayor Dominick Pangallo and other local dignitaries will lead a parade down the wharf accompanied by the Salem Veterans Color Guard. The National Anthem will be sung by Stephanie Foster.

Maestro Dirk Hillyer and the Hillyer Festival Orchestra (HFO) will then take center stage and perform a program packed with Broadway show tunes, famous movie themes, and patriotic music. This year's featured performers are Stephanie Foster and Matt Naegar.

At 9:15 p.m., Salem ends its Independence Day celebration with a fireworks extravaganza, accompanied live by the Hillyer Festival Orchestra playing the 1812 Overture and other patriotic tunes throughout the entire fireworks display.

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.