How California Celebrates the Fourth of July

The annual “Big Bay Boom” Fourth of July Fireworks Show in San Diego is the largest fireworks show on the West Coast. Courtesy Visit San Diego.
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By Michele E. Buttelman 

If you’re looking for a great Fourth of July, look no further than your own Santa Clarita Valley backyard. After a two-year hiatus, the SCV is ready, willing and able to celebrate the Fourth the way it always has with the Rotary Pancake Breakfast in Old Town Newhall, followed by the Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade at 9 a.m.  

The parade, a nostalgic reminder of everything good in the SCV, includes “floats” full of Scouts, local businesses and a special salute honoring the frontline personnel who served, and continue to serve, the SCV heroically during the COVID pandemic. 

After the parade, head home to enjoy a backyard barbecue with friends and family.  

End your day with the annual Spirit of America Fireworks Spectacular, which headlines Fourth of July celebrations in the city of Santa Clarita. The fireworks show should begin around 9:20 p.m., lighting up the skies above the Westfield Valencia Town Center.  

If you stand on one of the pedestrian bridges around the mall, you’ll see both the city fireworks and the fireworks from Six Flags Magic Mountain.  

If celebrating freedom means you are itching to hit the open road, you’ll find California celebrates the Fourth of July in spectacular fashion.  

To celebrate the nation’s 246th birthday, the Ronald Regan Presidential Library is hosting a day full of family-fun activities. Courtesy Ronald Regan Presidential Library.
To celebrate the nation’s 246th birthday, the Ronald Regan Presidential Library is hosting a day full of family-fun activities. Courtesy Ronald Regan Presidential Library.

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library 

40 Presidential Drive, 

Simi Valley, CA 93065 

www.reaganfoundation.org/programs-events/events-calendar/annual-fourth-of-july-celebration-2022 

Fourth of July events 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

To celebrate our nation’s 246th birthday, the Ronald Regan Presidential Library is hosting a day full of family-fun activities. This year’s celebration includes patriotic concerts, family entertainment, games, crafts and more. All outdoor activities are free; admission rates apply to view the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum, Air Force One Pavilion and the special exhibit, Secrets of World War II. Reservations are not required for this event. For more information call 805-522-2977. 

Face painting, Bingo, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Concert Band, sports bounce jumper, arts and crafts, photo opportunity with presidential lookalikes, re-enactor performances and food and beverage available for purchase.  

The picnic races/games include sack races, shoe kicking contest, buddy walkers, bucket brigade, water balloon toss, spinner cone race, kid’s candy scramble, knock the cans down carnival game and black hole carnival game and much more.  

Richard Nixon Library & Museum 

18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.,  

Yorba Linda, CA 92886 

www.nixonfoundation.org/events 

July 3 noon to 1 p.m.  

Join the Huntington Beach Concert Band for a spectacular patriotic show. This free concert will be held in the magnificent East Room of the Nixon Library. Entrance to the concert does not include museum admission.  

The annual “Big Bay Boom” Fourth of July Fireworks Show in San Diego is the largest fireworks show on the West Coast. Courtesy Visit San Diego.
The annual “Big Bay Boom” Fourth of July Fireworks Show in San Diego is the largest fireworks show on the West Coast. Courtesy Visit San Diego. 

Port of San Diego Big Bay Boom Fireworks Spectacular 

2378 Winship Lane,  

San Diego, CA 92101 

bigbayboom.com 

“A Salute to the Military Families of our Service Heroes” 

The annual “Big Bay Boom” Fourth of July Fireworks Show is the largest fireworks show on the West Coast. 

Show Time: 9 p.m. to 9:20 p.m.  

Best Viewing: Shelter Island, Harbor Island, North/South Embarcadero, Seaport Village, Coronado Landing, Point Loma homes, Liberty Station, Little Italy, downtown hotels-high rises-condos, boats on the water, Port of Long Beach parks.  

On July 4, San Diego’s North Bay will light up with a spectacular fireworks display orchestrated to originally produced music selections. The show can be viewed from Point Loma to Shelter Island to Harbor Island to Liberty Station to Little Italy to the North Embarcadero to Seaport Village and the South Embarcadero to the Coronado Ferry Landing.  

The “show” will capture the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.  

It will consist of about 18 minutes of some of the most technically advanced fireworks produced by one of the best worldwide operators of fireworks displays. The fireworks artists will choreograph the four barge locations of pyrotechnics simultaneously to music broadcast “live” on 101.5 KGB radio. 

Park at the San Diego airport at a reduced rate and walk a short distance to view the fireworks. Street parking is free.  

The public is invited to a free Fourth of July fireworks spectacular at the Long Beach waterfront. Courtesy Visit Long Beach.
The public is invited to a free Fourth of July fireworks spectacular at the Long Beach waterfront. Courtesy Visit Long Beach.

Long Beach Big Bang on the Bay 

190 N. Marina Drive,  

Long Beach, CA 90803 

boathouseonthebay.com/big-bang/ 

The Boathouse on the Bay presents Big Bang on the Bay Sunday, July 3, 5:30-9:30 p.m. This is a fundraising event. Tickets are $50 for adults, $30 children under 10.  

Big Bang on the Bay showcases fireworks over the Alamitos Bay Marina. It can be seen from Boathouse on the Bay, Alamitos Bay beaches and the Peninsula area of Long Beach.  

Long Beach Free Fireworks 

300 E. Ocean Blvd.,  

Long Beach, CA 90802 

www.visitlongbeach.com 

Sunday, July 4, at 9 p.m.  

The public is invited to a free Fourth of July fireworks spectacular at the Long Beach waterfront, presented by the city of Long Beach, Port of Long Beach, Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau and Harbor Breeze Cruises. 

The night sky will alight at 9 p.m., with fireworks launched from Queensway Bay. Free viewing locations are available all along the downtown waterfront, including the Lions Lighthouse for Sight, Shoreline Village, Rainbow Harbor and Marina Green. 

Parking will be available at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center and at public lots throughout the area, including at Shoreline Village and adjacent to the Aquarium of the Pacific. 

The Morgan Hill Freedom Festival in this Silicon Valley town, located 10 miles south of San Jose, dates back to 1876. Courtesy Morgan Hill Freedom Festival.
The Morgan Hill Freedom Festival in this Silicon Valley town, located 10 miles south of San Jose, dates back to 1876. Courtesy Morgan Hill Freedom Festival.

Morgan Hill Freedom Festival 

16500 Condit Road, 

Morgan Hill, CA 95037 

morganhillfreedomfest.com 

The Freedom Festival in this Silicon Valley town, located 10 miles south of San Jose, goes back to 1876, and has longstanding features such as the “Patriotic Sing” at the downtown amphitheater, a fun run, a family-friendly music festival and a cruise and car show. The showstoppers, though, will be the town’s Fourth of July parade and its Fireworks on the Green. 

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