July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Secaucus

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

July 4 Festivities for 2024:

6 p.m. July 1 at the Secaucus town pool: Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli and the town council invite residents to the town's annual Independence Day celebration, held at 6 p.m. July 1 this year, as always at the town pool.

There will be free food, entertainment, games and fireworks that go off when it gets dark. There will be live music from Streetlife Serenade, a Billy Joel cover band.

Open only to Secaucus residents and their guests. You must show ID to enter the Secaucus Swim Club.

July 4 in Liberty State Park, Jersey City: Wyclef Jean will perform and Fat Joe will open for him at a free day of music, food, and Grucci fireworks in Jersey City on July 4.

Funk Flex will begin DJ'ing at 6 p.m. and Fat Joe will perform at 7. Wyclef takes the stage at 8 p.m. Grucci Fireworks will begin at 9:25 p.m. over the Hudson River. That's more than an hour after the 8 p.m. starting time for the Macy's fireworks on the other side of the Hudson (see more about that here.)

Other musicians will perform, and people can purchase food and drink at food trucks or nearby restaurants. Learn more: Wyclef Jean To Headline Free Jersey City 4th of July Festival With Grucci Fireworks

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.