Boston's Hatch Shell Stage is going to be alight with stars this July 4th, as the Boston Pops headline a massive musical extravaganza.
The 52nd iteration of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular will treat Bostonians to musical entertainment from across pop, rap, and jazz music. Headlining the event, the Boston Pops will also share the stage with big artists like Trombone Shorty, Chance the Rapper, Lainey Wilson, and the 2025 DCI World Champion Boston Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps.
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Here's a bit more information about the star-studded event from the Boston Pops website:
With an all-American lineup of top-tier guest artists led by Wilson, Chance, and Shorty, a revolutionary-themed drone show during the performance of the 1812 Overture, and a fireworks display choreographed to music by the Pops, the event will showcase Massachusetts’ creativity, collaboration, and community spirit to an in-person audience expected to break attendance records and millions of broadcast viewers on CNN and on WHDH-Channel 7.
As always, the free concert includes a patriotic singalong and other Independence Day favorites performed by the Pops along with the Boston Children’s Chorus, Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps, Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes and Drums, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the USS Constitution Color Guard.
The event will conclude with a stunning fireworks display illuminating the Charles River and choreographed with music performed by the Boston Pops, beginning at 9:15 p.m.
Want to watch the show from the comfort of your own home? You're in luck! The entire July 4 concert and fireworks display will be broadcast locally in Boston on WHDH-TV Channel 7 and streamed on the CNN app and CNN.com.
More about the Boston Pops July 4 Fireworks Spectacular and Keith Lockhart
"Since 1929, the Boston Symphony’s Pops orchestra has performed its free Independence Day concert on the Esplanade, a beloved Boston tradition first conceived by Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler and carried on by John Williams and, since 1995, Keith Lockhart. A fireworks display became part of the tradition in 1974 when the late David Mugar became the event’s producer, which he remained until 2016. In 2017, the Pops opened a new page in the BSO’s history, presenting its first self-produced Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.
More about the Boston Pops
For more than 135 years, the Boston Pops has entertained audiences in Boston and beyond, with Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart leading the orchestra since 1995. It all began in 1885, thanks to the vision of Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson. Four years earlier, in 1881, he founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment "the dream of my life." From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that these "lighter" performances would provide year-round employment for his musicians. The "Promenade Concerts," as they were originally called, were soon informally known as "Popular Concerts," which eventually became shortened to "Pops," the name officially adopted in 1900.
The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall. Not only is this performance space acoustically outstanding, it was also designed, at Higginson's insistence, so that the rows of seats for Boston Symphony concerts could be replaced by tables and chairs for Pops concerts. To this day, patrons sitting at the cabaret-style tables can enjoy food and drink along with the kind of musical entertainment only the Boston Pops can provide.
There were 17 Pops conductors, beginning with the German Adolf Neuendorff, that preceded Arthur Fiedler, the first American-born musician to lead the orchestra. In Fiedler’s nearly 50-year tenure as Pops Conductor (1930-1979), he established the Boston Pops as a national icon. When John Williams (1980-1993) succeeded Arthur Fiedler, he was the most highly acclaimed composer in Hollywood, and today, with 52 Academy Award nominations, he is the most-nominated living person in Academy history. Mr. Williams continued the Boston Pops Orchestra's prolific recording tradition with a series of best-selling recordings for the Philips and Sony Classical labels, broadened and updated the Pops repertoire, and entertained audiences with live orchestral accompaniment to clips of memorable movie scenes, many featuring iconic music from his own film scores.
Having led over 2,000 Boston Pops concerts in his tenure to date, Keith Lockhart (1995-present) has created programs that reach out to a broader and younger audience by presenting artists—both established performers and rising stars—from virtually every corner of the entertainment world, all the while maintaining the Pops' core appeal. He has made 81 television shows, led 45 national and four overseas tours with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, led the Pops at several high-profile sports events, and recorded twelve albums. Mr. Lockhart's tenure has been marked by a dramatic increase in touring, the orchestra's first Grammy nominations, the first major network national broadcast of the July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular from the Esplanade, and the release of the Boston Pops' first self-produced and self-distributed recordings.
2026 DCI Live Streaming Schedule: Here's When To Watch DCI On FloMarching
Fans should look forward to watching multiple DCI shows each week, from the start of the 2026 DCI season on June 26th, all the way through DCI Finals on August 6-8. Watch all the action live from the comfort of your home, or watch on the go using the FloSports app.
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2026 DCI Streaming Schedule
June 26 | Santa Clara Vanguard Showcase
June 26 | Drums Along the Rockies
* June 27 | Bluecoats Opening Night Community Celebration
June 30 | Northwest Youth Music Games Seattle
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July 10 | Western Corps Connection
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August 8 | SoundSport International Music & Food Festival
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