Fireworks Near Me: July 4, 2024 Events in Reading

READING, MA — Independence Day is just around the corner, so it's time to find out where you can celebrate in and around Reading. Area events include fireworks, festivals and other Fourth of July fun.

To help you fit everything into your July 4th calendar, Patch has put together a guide to what's happening in and around Reading.

Today, Americans celebrate the birth of a new nation with fireworks, parades, concerts, family reunions, and barbecues. However, these celebrations predate Independence Day as a federal holiday by centuries, which didn't occur until 1941.

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In the pivotal summer of 1776, the pre-revolutionary celebrations of King George III's birthday were replaced by a mock funeral as a symbolic break with the crown.

It was an exciting time in Philadelphia: the Continental Congress voted to secede from the crown, and two days later, on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the 13 original 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 held in Philadelphia on July 4, 1777, while the Revolutionary War was underway. Fireworks have been a part of July 4 festivities since the first celebration in Philadelphia.