Fireworks Near Me: Manalapan, July 4th 2024 Events

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

July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Annual Declaration of Independence Reading
Where: Freehold Borough Fire House, 49 West Main Street, Freehold
When: July 4, 9 a.m.

Join the Borough of Freehold for the annual Declaration of Independence reading. Attendees who wish to read should arrive by 8:45 a.m. The reading will be livestreamed on the Freehold Facebook Page.

What: Moorestown Independence Day Parade
Where: Moorestown Mainstreet
When: July 4, 12-2 p.m.

Join Moorestown for their Independence Day Parade! All civic and community groups are welcome to march in the Parade for free but should register ahead of time. The parade will feature staples such as the Color Guard, Citizen of the Year and more.

What: Monmouth Battlefield Special Event
Where: Monmouth Battlefield State Park Visitor's Center, 20 State Route 33
When: July 4, 1-3 p.m.

Join the Friends of Monmouth Battlefield and Monmouth Battlefield Park personnel as they hold a free Fourth of July Celebration. At 1 p.m. there will be a reproduction full-sized Revolutionary War cannon firing demonstration given by Mott’s Artillery, and from 1 to 3 p.m., children's artillery and infantry drills will be held.

What: East Brunswick’s July 4th Celebration
Where: Community Arts Center, 721 Cranbury Road
When: July 4, 6 p.m.

Join East Brunswick Recreation & Parks for their July 4th celebration! Attendees can enjoy food trucks, entertainment, fireworks and more. Doors open at 6 p.m. In case of rain, the celebration will take place on July 5.

What: Jenkinson’s Independence Day Fireworks
Where: Jenkinson’s Boardwalk, 300 Ocean Ave N, Point Pleasant Beach
When: July 4, 9:30-9:45 p.m.

Celebrate Independence Day with Jenkinson’s during their July 4th fireworks show!

A Brief Background on Independence Day
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.