Location: Varies
Hours: July 2-4, hours vary
Admission: Varies, most FREE
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Overview:
4th of July in New York is immense. In a city this big, how could an important holiday like Independence Day be celebrated in just one day? The activities fill the weekend, with fun for all ages.
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On Saturday, July 2, head to Brooklyn for the big parade. Starting at 10am, the parade will cross the borough with all the traditional parade trappings: floats, marching bands, and more, in a salute to both the nation and to the armed forces.
On Sunday, kids will be dazzled by the spectacular Chinatown parade. Starting at Noon, the parade includes traditional entries plus unique cultural additions such as the huge Chinese dragons that dance down the street. Musical and dance performances continue through the afternoon in Chinatown.
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Or, try an old-fashioned celebration that afternoon with the Staten Island Historical Society. Kids can walk in a parade, make their own pinwheel and enjoy real homemade ice cream. These activities will be repeated on July 4.
Also on July 4, go to Coney Island and watch the most amazing eaters in the world compete in the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. The event begins at 11:30am, and twenty eaters will have twelve minutes to try beating Takeru Kobayashi's record of 50 ½ hot dogs (including buns).
The Chinatown
festivities continue throughout the afternoon with entertainment, martial arts
demonstrations, drum groups and dancing. Pokemon characters will entertain the
children, as will many other activities, until 5pm.
Then, in the evening, get ready for the spectacular Macy's 4th of July
Fireworks, which will ignite Lady Liberty and the New York and Jersey City
Skylines. The show starts at 7:30pm, with a New York Fire Department Fireboat
Water show on the East River. The boats spray arcs of water, colored red and
blue for the holiday, over 300 feet high. At 8pm, four A-10 fighter jets from
the Air Force will fly over, performing amazing maneuvers.
At 9pm, the fireworks are shot from three different barges, providing awesome
views for a wide section of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, as well as for
viewers along the river and those near the Statue of Liberty. The show uses over
36,000 shells, in amazing colors from red, white and blue to gold, silver,
brilliant greens, purples and yellows. These are some of the most advanced
fireworks in the world, creating amazing shapes and effects in the sky. The show
is set to a musical score, which can be heard on local radio, and the entire
fireworks show will be broadcast on TV.
4th of July in New York is so full of fun, everyone will be exhausted, but it
will be the highlight of the summer!
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