Chicago Fireworks: Where To See Fourth of July Weekend Fireworks Shows

Nothing says Fourth of July weekend like fireworks shows (or exploding port-a-potties). In Chicago, most take place a day early, on the night of July 3. Here's where to catch them near you this weekend.

The city's free Grant Park and museum campus Taste of Chicago fireworks show starts at 9 p.m. Friday and will last around 20 minutes. The 85th Army Band will play in Grant Park from 7:30 p.m. until showtime.

The Navy Pier fireworks show, also free, happens Saturday night, beginning at 9 p.m. The Navy Pier rooftop is open to the public from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a cash bar.

For those with access to a boat, follow the Examiner's guide for seeing the shows on the lake.

Find shows along the North Shore here and the Northwest 'burbs here.

For complete lists of shows around the entire region, check here and here.

NBC Chicago has an extensive list and offers tips for taking in the fireworks from a lake cruise.

For tickets on a tall ship, check here or on the Spirit of Chicago here.

The Chicago Park District is asking that people who are grilling over the weekend to safely dispose of hot coals in provided red, metal "hot coal cans," and not dump them near trees or playgrounds.

And the ever-reliable Parking Ticket Geek has a handy guide to traffic hot spots this weekend along with some sage advice for city car owners:

If you are one of those goofs who has an alarm on your car, disable it over the weekend if you park on the street. Most likely, the large caliber fireworks going off in your neighborhood will set your alarm off. So shut it off. It doesn't do anything anyways.

As much as I love fireworks, the M-80's going off at midnight waking up my kids is bad enough. We don't need your damn car alarm going off too.

Comments

[Solja]

I took some video last night at the Quad Cities' fireworks display. For those who don't know, the Quad Cities is 5 different cities on the Iowa/Illinois border in an area situated around the Mississippi River, about 3 hours drive from Chicago. Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois held their annual fireworks display together. People gather on the Centennial Bridge, in the parks at the foot of the bridge on both sides of the river, and all along the riverbank to see the display.

I got about six minutes of it. The finale was fantastic, but my memory was full by that time. lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UuD-K6WZAM