The region is gearing up for the Independence Day holiday on July 4 with fireworks, family fun, and historical happenings.
Fireworks & Fun
Montgomery Township
Montgomery Township hosts its annual fireworks display on Thursday, June 27, at Montgomery High School, located at 1016 Route 601, Montgomery. There will be vendors, music, games, and children’s activities on site starting at 6 p.m. Ample free parking is available off-site, or $20 passes for on-site parking can be purchased at the Parks & Recreation office. Bring a blanket or chairs. Alcohol and pets are prohibited.
More information: www.montgomeryrecreation.com.
Hopewell Valley Arts Council
There are two days of fun in the Hopewell Valley to get you in the Independence Day spirit. On Friday, June 28, the Hopewell Valley Arts Council hosts a 4th of July kickoff event at Woolsey Park, 221 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville. The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. with a free concert by Grant Peterson & Friends in the park’s new bandshell.
At sundown, there will be a screening of the fireworks-themed family-friendly documentary film “Passfire: Fireworks Culture Around the Globe,” at 8:45 p.m. The movie’s running time is 1 hour, 40 minutes. Attendees are welcome to bring picnic dinners to this free event as well as chairs or blankets to sit on.
More information: www.hvartscouncil.org.
Return to Woolsey Park the next day, Saturday, June 29, for the Hopewell Valley Veterans Association’s annual car show, starting at 4 p.m., and fireworks, at 8:15 p.m. In case of rain the event will be postponed until Sunday, June 30.
LEAD Fest State Fair
The LEAD Fest State Fair, running Friday, June 28, through Sunday, July 7, at Mercer County Park in West Windsor, offers fireworks on Friday, June 28, and Thursday, July, in addition to nightly live music performances and daytime activities for all ages.
More information and tickets: www.theleadfest.com.
Lawrence Township
Lawrence Township’s annual Independence Day fireworks will be held at Rider University on Friday, June 28. Food trucks, live music, and children’s entertainment will begin at 6 p.m., and fireworks will start around 9:30 p.m. The rain date is Saturday, June 29.
More information: www.rider.edu/about/events/independence-day-fireworks.
Hamilton Township
Hamilton Township hosts its 2024 Independence Day Fireworks & Concert on Monday, July 1, at Veterans Park, 2206 Kuser Road, Hamilton. Festivities begin at 6 p.m. with live music by the Heartbeats and food from a variety of vendors, and the fireworks display starts at 9:30 p.m. The rain date for the event is Tuesday, July 2.
More information: www.hamiltonnj.com/410/Independence-Day-Fireworks-Concert.
Bordentown
The Foundation for Bordentown Traditions hosts the city’s annual fireworks display on Wednesday, July 3, at Joseph Lawrence Park, 316 Ward Avenue, Bordentown. Festivities including food, music, games, and more get underway at 4:30 p.m.
Ewing Township
Ewing Township holds its Independence Day Fireworks Celebration on Wednesday, July 3, on the Green Lane Soccer Fields at the College of New Jersey. Parking is available at the TCNJ parking garage on Metzger Drive.
Bring your own lawn chairs and blanket starting at 6 p.m. with rides and activities for kids including face painting, sand art, and a balloon man; time for a picnic; and music provided by DJ Justin Macellaro. The First NJ Volunteers Colonial Reenactors and various food vendors will also be on site. No outside alcohol is permitted. The fireworks display starts at approximately 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
More information: www.ewingnj.org.
Titusville
Titusville also gets into the action with its traditional parade held on Thursday, July 4. The parade along River Drive opens up with music by the River Dogs and refreshments for sale at 10 a.m., followed by opening ceremonies and procession down the parade route beginning at 11 a.m. A quoits tournament follows at 2:30 p.m. behind the Titusville Academy. Registration is $20 per team.
More information: www.ttv4th.org.
History Revisited
Morven Museum & Garden
Morven Museum & Garden hosts its annual Fourth of July Jubilee on Thursday, July 4, from noon to 3 p.m. at 55 Stockton Street, Princeton.
This year’s focus is Civic Season, a national program of activities connecting Juneteenth and July 4th to better understand the past and shape the future. This free community event includes family-friendly interactive activities and crafts inspired by history, civics, and service themes. Attendees are invited to enjoy tours of Morven’s gardens; live music with Vintage Vibe Tribe; Oink & Moo BBQ, The Empanada Guy, and Kona Ice food trucks; face painting with Maya B. the Facepaint Fairy, and a unique opportunity to “sign” the Declaration of Independence.
In 1783, Morven hosted Congressional delegates, marking Independence Day. Now more than 241 years later, the museum continues this tradition, utilizing its role as the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence (and New Jersey’s first Governor’s mansion) to engage the public in activities that explore history and what it means to be an engaged citizen.
Community partner organizations include the Historical Society of Princeton, Paul Robeson House of Princeton, People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos, Princeton Academy of Art, Princeton Public Library, Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, YWCA Princeton, Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society.
Half-price tickets will be available for the museum. The current exhibition, Morven Revealed: Untold Stories from New Jersey’s Most Historic Home, explores the lesser-known stories of Morven and its residents. The museum’s second-floor galleries take a thematic look at subjects recognizable to many American families: childhood, hosting guests, pets, fashion, and more.
For more information and updates in case of inclement weather: www.morven.org.
Washington Crossing State Park
Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville invites visitors to travel back in time to the Revolutionary War era on Saturday, July 13, at 2 p.m. for “Songs and Stories of the American Revolution” performed by Matthew Dodd.
Dressed in colonial clothing and performing rousing period songs and stories, Dodd sings and plays the guitar, banjo, mandolin, and recorder throughout the show. The outdoor performance takes place at Sullivan’s Grove next to the Visitor Center Museum.
Sullivan’s Grove can be reached from I-95 by taking the Trenton/Lambertville Exit. Head north on Route 29 for 2.5 miles and turn right at the first traffic light. Park Entrance will be on your left in a half mile. Enter the park and follow the signs to the Visitor Center Museum.
More information: 609-737-0623.
Historical Society of Princeton
The Historical Society of Princeton puts a special spin on its weekly Princeton history walking tour on Sunday, July 7. Enjoy a walk around downtown Princeton and the university campus as you learn about historic sites in the area, including Nassau Hall, University Chapel and Palmer Square. In celebration of the 4th of July, the tour will answer the question, “What is an American?,” using stories from Princeton’s past.
Tickets are $15. Advance purchase is required. The tour starts in the courtyard of the Princeton Battle Monument. More information: www.princetonhistory.org.
Summer Reading
Allentown
“We hold these truths to be self-evident” — familiar words for any American. To celebrate America’s 248th birthday, citizens from Allentown and Upper Freehold Township will publicly read the Declaration of Independence on Thursday, July 4, at 9 a.m. All are welcome to witness the event in Pete Sensi Park, Main Street in Allentown. The program is free; refreshments will be served.
The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence was held in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, and other readings were held later that same day in Trenton and Easton, Pennsylvania. Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776, copies of the document were printed and sent by messengers to be distributed throughout the newly founded 13 states. At the time, Allentown was a village frequented by many travelers en route from Philadelphia to New York. It is likely that the Declaration was proclaimed in 1776 from very close to the same site at which it will be read 248 years later on July 4, 2024.
This free program is sponsored by The Allentown Village Initiative (TAVI), a volunteer community service organization. More information: www.allentownvinj.org.
Trenton
On July 8, 1776, Trenton hosted the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence outside of Philadelphia in front of what was then the Hunterdon County Courthouse on Warren Street (Mercer County did not yet exist). In typical “Trenton Makes the World Takes” fashion, the now-immortal words of the Declaration of Independence were proclaimed aloud, and ultimately heard around the world.
That pivotal moment in history will be recreated by the Trenton Kiwanis Club on Monday, July 8, at noon — exactly 248 years after the first reading — when Trentonians gather to once again read aloud the Declaration of Independence at 23 South Warren Street — the same site as the first reading in 1776. A cross-section of civic leaders and citizens young and old lead by Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora will each read a portion of the document as well as the names of the signers from each of the original 13 colonies.
The program, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Trenton and the City of Trenton Department of Recreation, Natural Resources and Culture is free and open to the public. More information: 609-208-9991.
Princeton Public Library
A special community reading event hosted by Princeton Public Library in partnership with numerous area nonprofits takes place over Zoom on Monday, July 8, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Community members read an amended version of Frederick Douglass’ influential speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?,” given on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York, to the Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society.
The life and works of Frederick Douglass continue to shape our understanding of America. A gifted orator and prescient writer, Douglass forces us to reckon with the legacy of slavery, and the promises of democracy. Douglass’ powerful language, resolute denunciations of slavery and forceful examination of the Constitution challenge us to think about the histories we tell, the values they teach, and if our actions match our aspirations. To quote Douglass, “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the future.”
Other organizing partners include Nassau Presbyterian Church and Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church Joint Mission Committee, Not In Our Town Princeton, Paul Robeson House of Princeton, McCarter Theater, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
More information and registration: www.princetonlibrary.org.
Trent House Association
Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech is also the focal point of a free event being hosted outdoors at the 1719 William Trent House at 15 Market Street, Trenton, on Sunday, July 7, at 3 p.m.
In his speech, Douglass referred to the Declaration of Independence as establishing a nation committed to providing opportunity for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” to all its citizens. In less than a decade, that nation was embroiled in a civil war about the legitimacy of the enslavement of people of African descent.
James Peeples, trustee and vice president of the Trent House Association, reads the text of Douglass’ speech. Audience members will be led in singing “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” a marching song of the Union Army during the Civil War, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written during the post-Reconstruction period after the war.
The event will be moved indoors in case of rain or extreme heat. Free parking is available on site. More information: www.williamtrenthouse.org.
