Best July 4th Fireworks
Boston: Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular
Few celebrations are as tradition-heavy as Boston’s Fourth, which began in 1974 in anticipation of the Bicentennial. Some 20 city, state, and federal agencies collaborate on the planning, and six—including the U.S. Coast Guard and the Cambridge police and fire departments—have boats in the Charles River, to oversee the four barges as they launch the 21-minute extravaganza.
Where to View: The Boston Pops kicks the night off with a rousing concert at 8:30 p.m., but oddly enough, you can’t see the fireworks at all from the best concert seats. Thanks to 30 sound towers, though, every one of the 400,000 to 600,000 spectators—watching from both the Cambridge and Boston sides of the river on blankets, from the Longfellow Bridge, and from some 500 to 1,000 boats on the river—can have their concert and watch the fireworks too.
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