July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Basking Ridge

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Independence Day is fast approaching so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Basking Ridge. 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 Basking Ridge and the surrounding areas.

July 4 Festivities For 2024

• What: July 4th Somerset County Independence Day Fireworks 2024
• Where: North Branch Park on Milltown Road in Bridgewater
• When: Thursday, July 4, at 9:30 p.m.

Admission is free. North Branch Park gates will open at 6 p.m. to allow vehicles to enter the park and families to picnic on park grounds. The fireworks display will begin at 9:30 p.m. Visitors should plan to arrive early.

Milltown Road will be closed at around 9 p.m. Heavy car and foot traffic is expected.

Garden State Groove will perform memorable hits of the decades from the 70’s up to the latest chart toppers at 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m.

The NJ 3rd Regiment Revolutionary War encampment will be onsite. Park visitors should bring lawn chairs or blankets while they enjoy time in the park before the Independence Day fireworks begin.

Food trucks will be available and picnic baskets are allowed, but alcohol is prohibited. Personal fireworks are not allowed.

Milltown Road will remain closed at the conclusion of the fireworks for 30 minutes to one hour while local neighborhood pedestrians walk from the park. Bridgewater Police will be on hand to assist park staff with traffic flow.

• What: Hillsborough Family Fun Day & Fireworks Extravaganza
• Where: Auten Road Intermediate School field, 281 Auten Road, Hillsborough
• When: Saturday, June 29, 5 p.m.

The Independence Day Celebration will feature inflatable amusements for children, a food tent, carnival games, and promotional information from local organizations.

The food tent will include refreshments such as pizza, chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, kettle corn, and more.

Live music will be provided by "Gypsy, A True Stevie Nicks Experience," leading up to the main event, the annual fireworks extravaganza.

Guests are asked to bring folding chairs and blankets and plan on spending a fun evening with the Hillsborough community.

Complimentary shuttle buses will be available from the Hillsborough High School parking lot beginning at 5 p.m. There is no public parking at the event.

• What: Montgomery 4th of July Food Trucks, Live Music, & Fireworks
• Where: Front lawn of Montgomery High School (1016 Rt 601)
• When: Thursday, June 27, at 6 p.m.

Festivities begin at 6pm with vendors, music and games/activities for children.

There will be free parking available off-site, but if you want priority parking in the high school parking lot you can purchase priority parking passes at the Rec office.

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.