People play with glow sticks while watching fireworks after the Omaha Storm Chasers AAA baseball game at Werner Park in Papillion, Nev., on July 3, 2024. | Photo credit: AP
Many Americans didn’t let concerns about their wallets stop them from traveling and enjoying fireworks as they celebrated the birth of their country with parades, cookouts and fiery splashes of color against the evening sky.
Travel records were expected to drop as people would already be blocking airports and highways to reach their destinations before July 4.
Fireworks were also expected to reach a record high with an untold number of backyard displays, in addition to 16,000 professional shows lighting up the horizon from sea to shining sea, a fireworks consumer group said.
A traveler walks through Miami International Airport in Miami on July 3, 2024. A long Fourth of July holiday weekend is expected to create new travel records. | Photo credit: AP
“This is how we celebrate. It’s the bombs that explode in the sky. It’s the red glow of the rockets. That’s how people show their pride and patriotism,” Julie Heckman of the American Pyrotechnics Association told The Associated Press.
All signs pointed to major celebrations: The Transportation Security Administration reported that nearly 3 million people traveled through airports in a single day last week, and that figure is expected to be broken this week. And AAA predicted that 60.6 million people will travel by car during the holiday season.
Some of the increase in travel was attributed to declining inflation, even as Americans remain concerned about the economy.
There was lots of barbecue, desserts, cold drinks and the Stars and Stripes on tap. But Americans also celebrated in other ways that were unique to their communities.
Off the rocky coast in Down East, Maine, some planned to enjoy lobster boat racing. Descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence rang the Liberty Bell thirteen times – once for each of the original colonies – in Philadelphia. The Californian communities of Bolinas and Stinson Beach, north of San Francisco, participated in their annual tug-of-war competition in which losers end up in a lagoon.
The 2024 championship belts rest on a table during a weigh-in ceremony before the Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, on July 3, 2024, in New York. | Photo credit: AP
And of course there is the annual hot dog eating contest at Coney Island in New York.
At least one community, however, faced a muted celebration: The annual fireworks display in the Northern California city of Oroville was canceled as an estimated 26,000 residents remained displaced by the growing Thompson Fire, while hundreds of firefighters had to work in extreme heat to keep the flames from spreading more achieved. houses.
The Fourth of July holiday generally unites Americans in their shared love of country, but the 2024 version comes against a backdrop of deep political polarization and a divisive presidential race.
In Boston, where tens of thousands of people were expected to enjoy the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, maestro Keith Lockhart said it is inspiring to see people of different political persuasions coming together on the Charles River Esplanade. But he noted that “you have to bury your head pretty deep in the sand not to notice the deep divisions in our country.”
“It is indeed a dangerous time,” he wrote in an email before the show. “If, even for one day, we can put aside our differences and embrace our similarities, this must be a positive thing.”
