Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular

Welcome from Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart

July 4, 2026 

I remember July 4, 1976. It was the summer before my senior year of high school, and I sat with my family and watched an amazing patriotic spectacle on our small, black-and-white television. Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops gave a performance to remember, perhaps the first live concert I’d ever seen on TV, and I was hooked! If someone had told me then that, 50 years later, I would be on that stage with America’s Orchestra, I never would have believed them. I still have a hard time believing it. 

This year marks my 31st year at the helm of the Boston Pops. Each year, our July 4th Fireworks Spectacular has provided some sort of bellwether for the national mood: the events that shape us, where we are, and where we want to be.

I believe that America is an aspiration, a continual work-in-progress. As such, I believe that our nation’s birthday is more of an opportunity to celebrate our potential, and our progress toward being “a more perfect Union,” than an occasion for chest-thumping or self-congratulation. Our concert this year will bring together millions of Americans, of diverse ethnic backgrounds, creeds, and political persuasions. Under the unifying banner of music, we will celebrate what this country means to each of us, individually, and perhaps gain a better appreciation for what it means to others. And, after the fireworks are over and we return to our normal lives, I hope each of us will carry away some spark of hope, some greater understanding of the tasks that lie ahead, as we strive to realize the Founder’s vision as it relates to a world markedly different from that of 1776. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that my mind is a storage vault for lyrics…I remember obscure verses better than the tunes they are attached to! On this 250th anniversary of our founding, I remember two lyrics, from lesser-known verses of iconic patriotic anthems, that I would love to offer up:

“…then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. And this be our motto — ‘In God is Our Trust’” 

 …from the last verse of Francis Scott Key’s poem “The Star-Spangled Banner,” written several years after the far more famous first verse. He used the last stanzas of his poem to remind Americans that our true power can only last as long as it is used in a morally supportable way. And this one: 

 “America, God mend thy every flaw. Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law.” 

…from the second verse of Massachusetts native and Wellesley professor Katherine Lee Bates’ poem “America, the Beautiful.” A timely warning to Americans not to fall prey to arrogance, and to enshrine the rights of all Americans in laws that protect even the least powerful among us. 

Happy Birthday, America! 

Keith Lockhart

Boston Pops
Keith Lockhart, conductor

SPECIAL GUESTS
Lainey Wilson 
Chance the Rapper 
Trombone Shorty
Megan Hilty

Hosted by Jane Lynch 

FEATURING
Regie Gibson, MA Poet Laureate 
Pelin Su Yavuz, piano

Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
Boston Children’s Chorus
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Middlesex County Volunteers Fife and Drums
USS Constitution Color Guard

Featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Children’s Chorus, and USS Constitution Color Guard
Star-Spangled Banner (Smith/Key—arr. R. Bass)

Featuring Regie Gibson and Boston Children’s Chorus
Song of Massachusetts (Carlos Simon/Regie Gibson)
[World premiere; Boston Pops commission]

Presenting TROMBONE SHORTY

Featuring Pelin Su Yavuz, piano
Spain (Corea—arr. Solla)

Presenting CHANCE THE RAPPER

Presenting TROMBONE SHORTY
with the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps and Pelin Su Yavuz, piano

Presenting LAINEY WILSON

Featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Salute to Our Fighting Men (arr. Bodge/Elliott)

Featuring Megan Hilty and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Shower the People (Taylor—arr. Silverman)

Featuring Middlesex County Volunteers Fife and Drums
Liberty: From the Ashes of Tyranny (Billings—arr. Meier)

Presenting MEGAN HILTY

Yankee Doodle (Gould)

Presenting CHANCE THE RAPPER
with Boston Children’s Chorus

Presenting LAINEY WILSON
with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus

Featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Boston Children’s Chorus
Patriotic Sing-Along (arr. Kosarin/Besterman)
• Comin’ to America
• America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)
• America the Beautiful
• God Bless America

Featuring the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Children’s Chorus, and Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
The Stars and Stripes Forever (Sousa)

Featuring the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps
1812 Overture (Tchaikovsky)

Fireworks Music

Summon the Heroes (John Williams)

I’m Shipping Up to Boston (Barr/Casey/Kelly/Guthrie—arr. Hollenbeck) 

Spirit of America (James Stephenson) 
[World premiere; Boston Pops commission]

♫ Lyrics: Patriotic Sing-Along (arr. Kosarin/Besterman)

(Comin' to) America
Far, we’ve been traveling far,
without a home, but not without a star.
Free, only want to be free. 
We huddle close, hang on to a dream.
Everywhere across the world,
they’re coming to America.
Every time that flag’s unfurled, 
they’re coming to America.
Got a dream to take them there.
They’re coming to America.
Got a dream they’ve come to share.
They’re coming to America. Today!

America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee)
My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died. Land of the pilgrims’ pride.
From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring.

America the Beautiful
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea!

God Bless America
God bless America, land that I love. 
Stand beside her and guide her,
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home.
God bless America, my home sweet home!

“God Bless America,” copyright ©1938, 1939 by Irving Berlin. Copyright assigned to Gene Tunney, A.L. Berman, and Ralph J. Bunche as trustees, God Bless America Fund. All rights reserved.

Military Information

Cannons
The 101st Field Artillery consists of 350 men and women from the 1st Battalion 101st Field Artillery Regiment, with Headquarters in Brockton, Alpha Battery in Fall River, and Charlie Battery in Danvers. Members of the 211th Military Police Battalion and the 1st Civil Support Team are also on hand assisting with public safety.

M102 Howitzer Cannon Specs
Caliber 105mm (4.13 in)
Width 6.4ft (2m)
Weight 1.5tn (1.4t)
Range 11,500m (7.1 miles)
Length 17.1ft (5.2m)
Height 5.2ft (1.6m)
Crew 8
Rate of fire 10 rounds per minute maximum

Event Information

Additional information is available at bostonpopsjuly4th.org.

Public Safety
For your safety, 25 federal, state, and city agencies are onsite in Boston and Cambridge and in the event’s Unified Command Center. Emergency Medical Services, first aid stations, and personnel are onsite in Boston and Cambridge.

Bathrooms
There are over 200 bathrooms located in Boston and Cambridge.

Weather
Updated weather forecasts will be announced periodically over the event’s public address system. Please follow any instructions given by public safety or via the sound system.

Remember, “If You See Something, Say Something”™ 
If you see something suspicious at all, please report it to one of the many uniformed public safety officers onsite or call 911.