Fireworks Near Me: Berkeley July 4th 2024 Events

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

July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Tuckerton Fourth of July Parade/Fireworks
Where: Tuckerton
When: July 4, 10 a.m.
The parade kicks off at 10 a.m. at Marine Street and Route 9. At dusk, enjoy fireworks across from Tuckerton Seaport over Pohatcong Lake.

What: Seaside Heights Fourth of July Fireworks
Where: Boardwalk, Seaside Heights
When: July 4, 9:30 p.m.

What: Beachwood's Fireworks Over the Toms River
Where: Beachwood Beach, and beaches in Pine Beach, Ocean Gate and Island Heights along the Toms River.
When: July 4, at dark
The popular donation-funded pyrotechnics show that draws thousands to the banks of the Toms River will be back lighting up the sky. Beachwood has vendors, food trucks and activities in the park at Beachwood's beach during the afternoon and evening.

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.