July 4 2024: Fireworks, Events Around Cranberry

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA — Independence Day is fast approaching so it's time to find out where you can celebrate around Cranberry.

In nearby Mars, the July 4 celebration starts at 1 p.m. Downtown and will feature vendors, food trucks and entertainment for the family. The parade begins at 3 p.m. and fireworks will begin at dusk.

TheZelienople 4th of July festivities include a parade, 5K, live music and more and more. Fireworks will be at dusk at the Zelienople Community Park.

Fireworks in Cranberry will occur on July 13 to conclude the annual Community Days week.

On Independence Day, 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.