July 4th 2025 Fireworks, Events Around Lake Minnetonka

MINNETONKA, MN — 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 Minnetonka.

To help you fit it all in on your 4th of July calendar, Patch has put together a guide to what’s going on at Lake Minnetonka and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For Lake Minnetonka In 2025

Morning Races at Excelsior Elementary

• 8:00 a.m. – Firecracker 5K
• 7:50 a.m. – Firecracker 10K
• 7:30 a.m. – Firecracker 1-Mile

Family Activities

• 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Petting zoo and DJ dance party at Excelsior Commons
• 11:00 a.m. – Bike Parade starts down Water Street to Excelsior Commons
• 10:00 a.m. – Kid’s Bike Parade
• 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Free face painting by Fusion Face Painting

Afternoon and Evening Events

• 3:00 p.m. – Food vendors open at Excelsior Commons
• 4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. – Live entertainment at Excelsior Bandshell
• 9:50 p.m. (dusk) – Fireworks over Excelsior Bay, viewed from Excelsior Commons

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.