July 4th 2024 Fireworks, Events Around Ocean City

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

July 4 Festivities For 2024

What: Ocean City Pops Free Outdoor Concert
Where: Carey Stadium, Ocean City
When: July 3 and 4, 8 p.m.
Bring a beach chair or blanket (plus seating in the bleachers) as the local orchestra plays patriotic classics and audience favorites.

What: Ocean City Bike Parades
Where: Longport Bridge Parking Lot; 40th and Asbury; Rosemar Lane Park
When: July 4, 9 a.m.; 11 a.m.
Different neighborhoods host bike parades on Independence Day.

What: Historic Smithville Fourth Of July Parade
Where: 615 E. Moss Mill Road, Galloway
When: July 4, 9 a.m.
Ten thousand people are expected to line the parade route in what is New Jersey's largest Fourth of July Parade.

What: 4th Annual Spike For Her Fundraising Event
Where: 15th Street Beach, Ocean City
When: July 4, 1 p.m.
This spikeball tournament raises fund and awareness for breast cancer.

What: Ocean City Fourth Of July Celebration
Where: 9th Street Beach, Ocean City
When: July 4, 7 p.m.
A kite flying competition kicks off the night and is followed by entertainment on the beach next to Music Pier. A fireworks display caps everything off at 9 p.m.

What: July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza
Where: Huntington Avenue, Margate City
When: July 4, 9 p.m.
Bring your beach chairs, blankets and kids for this dazzling display on the beach.

What: Tropicana Atlantic City Fireworks Show
Where: Tropicana Atlantic City, 2831 Boardwalk, Atlantic City
When: July 4, 10 p.m.
Fireworks are launched from the beachfront and can be viewed along the boardwalk.

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.