Boston Fireworks & Pops Concert 2024

The Boston Pops free July 4th 2024 Concert and Fireworks Spectacular America's best Independence Day celebration attracts more than a million spectators who gather on July 4 along the banks of the Charles River to listen to the rousing music. The concert begins at 8 pm and the spectacular half-hour fireworks show starts at 10:30 pm.

A lineup of special guests joins the Pops for the concert, which takes place at Boston's historical Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, a lush river-side park on the Boston side of the Charles.

Musical selections include a few traditional pieces but otherwise vary each year until the concert's dramatic signature finale: Tchaikovsky's explosive 1812 Overture, ending with dramatic drumrolls and real cannon fire while church bells ring throughout the city.

Then, just as the smoke from the cannons begins to fade from the air, a dazzling fireworks show lights up the sky.

Boston Pops July 4th Concert Lineup for 2024

• Headliners En Vogue, the R&B soul group currently featuring Cindy Herron, Terry Ellis, and Rhona Bennett; En Vogue has won 7 MTV Video Music Awards, 3 Soul Train awards, 7 Grammy Award nominations, and is one of the 5 highest-selling American female music groups of all times
• Mandy Gonzalez, Broadway star of top hits such as Hamilton, Wicked, and In the Heights,and author of the Fearless series of Broadway adventure novels (check them out on Amazon)
• LOCASH, country music duo of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas
• Broadway talents Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), Elizabeth Stanley (Jagged Little Pill), and Andrea Jones-Sojola (The Music Man), who starred in the Boston Pops' Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert in May and will perform it again at Tanglewood on July 8
• US Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus will lead the traditional sing-along of several patriotic favorites including John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
• Romaine Bostick and Carol Massur from Bloomberg TV will host the show as well as the concert television and radio broadcasts

The concert's musical finale as always will be a stirring rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with real cannon fire, followed by a fireworks display over the Charles River starting around 10:30.

What to Expect Plus More Independence Celebrations in Boston

If you're traveling to Boston for this national patriotic holiday, plan for a memorable evening watching the free

Fireworks Spectacular over the Charles River after the concert. 

Both the concert and the fireworks happen along side of Boston's big Harborfest, which takes place each year during early July. 

Harborfest hosts its own gala 15-minute fireworks show over the Inner Harbor on July 1 this year, and also includes the ever-popular Chowderfest where Boston restaurants and bars compete to determine who makes the best clam chowder.

Boston Fireworks Spectacular & Pops Concert Schedule 

July 4 - Concert & Fireworks

• 12 noon - Secured areas (meaning you need to pass through security and get a wristband to get in) by the "Oval," the grassy area in front of the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, and "The Island," an adjacent area by the Lagoon, open
• 8pm - Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and Bloomberg/WBZ-TV local broadcast begins
• 8pm - Boston Pops Concert and show begins with the National Anthem.
• 10:30pm (approximately) - Soon after the concert ends, the Boston fireworks begin to be launched from a barge on the Charles River. The show lasts about 30 minutes and concludes at 11pm

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