Southern California is filling Saturday’s July 4 calendar with concerts, food festivals, fireworks and drone shows, giving holiday crowds a wide set of ways to mark America’s 250th birthday. From the Rose Bowl Stadium to the Hollywood Bowl, the day is packed from afternoon to night.
At the Hollywood Bowl, The July Fourth Fireworks Spectacular with The Beach Boys with Special Guest John Stamos starts at 7:30 p.m. and marks the 60th anniversary of Pet Sounds, with Thomas Wilkins leading the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Stamos is the name that will draw plenty of attention, but he is only one part of a lineup built around a holiday that still leans hard on live music as much as fireworks.
FoodieLand Food Festival runs at the Rose Bowl Stadium from July 3-5 and is set to feature over 250 food vendors, carnival-style games and live music performances. On the night of the holiday, it will add a special Fourth of July drone show, turning the gathering into both a food event and a holiday display.
That split between fireworks and drones runs through the rest of the schedule too. America’s Block Party at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum begins at 3 p.m. with Chris Stapleton, The Smashing Pumpkins and Queen Latifah, along with free food, drinks, face painting, games and giveaways before the concert. It ends with fireworks and a drone show. The Queen Mary will host a one-night-only, family-friendly Fourth of July celebration at 3 p.m. with live performances, interactive activities and a 15-minute fireworks show. The City of Arcadia is sponsoring a free Fourth of July event at Santa Anita Park at 6 p.m., with watermelon-eating and hula-hoop contests, baby races, live music and a drone show.
The drone-heavy programming is no accident. Some cities and regions are limiting fireworks, and in those places the drone shows are not an add-on but the main act. That is why July 4 celebrations this year look different from one venue to the next, even when they are all tied to the same holiday and the same national milestone.
For readers choosing where to go, the answer is already clear: the next confirmed stops are the ones listed for Saturday, July 4, and the mix of fireworks, drones and live performances gives Southern California more than one way to celebrate the day.
