Neighborhood Expert: Where to watch July 4 fireworks this year

Sponsor June 28, 2021 at 12:30pm

Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA, D.C. and MD with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or [email protected].

Next Sunday is the Fourth of July — hard to believe half of the year has already passed! Some celebrations are returning and some new ones are being created to mark the special holiday.

Whether you choose to celebrate by watching fireworks or praying they don’t wake your sleeping kids, I hope the day is spent with friends and is full of fun! Happy Fourth of July!

Here are a few places in the area you can celebrate July Fourth.

Vienna

Check out the annual fireworks at Yeonas Park (1319 Ross Drive SW). The park opens at 7 p.m., and the Big Bad JuJu band starts at 7:30 p.m. Fireworks begin at dark (around 9:30 p.m.). Parking is always hard, so sometimes people park at the top of the Vienna Metro garage to watch if it’s not a cloudy night.

Fairfax

The City of Fairfax Independence Day Parade was something we did with my kids when they were smaller. The parade starts at 10 a.m. on July 3 at 4100 Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax. See tons of high school marching bands, parade balloons, float, clowns, dancing groups, music and more. For me, this parade was always fun to attend.

McLean

McLean used to do fireworks at Langley High School, but I can’t find any information on it for 2021. Instead, McLean is doing a July 4th Ice Cream Drive-Thru Celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the McLean Community Center. The event includes music, free ice cream and patriotic giveaways. The event is free but requires registration.

Falls Church City

This year, Falls Church is doing a Declaration Celebration Scavenger Hunt from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. instead of fireworks. There’s a PDF to download you can use to find 13 land and historical markers. Once completed, you can turn in the form for a free T-shirt.

Downtown D.C.

Of course, I can’t forget the National Mall fireworks show, which starts at 9:09 p.m. My husband and I use to park in Arlington and watch from across the water. You can see them in Rosslyn.

If you want to try your own hand at fireworks, you can get some at the Giant in Vienna or the large fireworks sale in the parking lot of the Oakton Giant and Nutley Street Safeway.