July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — Independence Day is fast approaching so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around the Chathams. Area events include fireworks, festivals, parades, and other 4th of July fun.

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

Fourth of July Festivities For 2024

Chatham

• What: Parade and 4th of July Fireworks
• Where: Fireworks are at Chatham Middle School, 480 Main Street, Chatham
• When: Thursday, July 4 with a parade at 10:30 a.m and musical entertainment beginning at 7 p.m., with fireworks at dark.

Hanover Township

• What: Hanover Township Patriotic Celebration
• Where: Hanover Township Municipal Complex, 1000 NJ-10, Whippany
• When: Monday, July 4 beginning at 6 p.m.

Florham Park

• What: Parade, Picnic, and Fireworks
• Where: Fireworks are at Emmett Field, Florham Park
• When: Thursday, July 4 with the parade at 9:30 a.m. (beginning at Ridgedale Avenue and Brooklake Road); picnic from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and social garden from noon to 3 p.m. on the Borough Hall Lawn; and fireworks at 9 p.m. on Emmett Field.

Morristown

• What: Declaration of Independence reading and historical re-enactment
• Where: Morristown National Historical Park, 30 Washington Place, Morristown
• When: Thursday, July 4 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Summit

• What: 77th Annual 4th of July Celebration
• Where: Soldiers Memorial Field, Summit
• When: Thursday, July 4 beginning at 12 p.m. with fireworks at 9 p.m.

Livingston

• What: Livingston July 4th Celebration and Fireworks
• Where: Memorial Oval (Robert Harp Drive), Livingston
• When: Thursday, July 4 with an all-day festival beginning at 9 a.m. and fireworks at 9 p.m.

You can also click here to see Patch's list of all Independence Day-related events and fireworks going on in Morris County for 2024, which we will update with any new info.

On July 4, 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).

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.