The City of Greenbelt will celebrate Independence Day with fireworks over Greenbelt Lake on Friday, July 4, continuing its 87-year-old tradition.
Preceding the fireworks, the event will feature arts and crafts at Buddy Attick Park from 4 to 5 p.m. At approximately 5:45, the Declaration of Independence will be read aloud in honor of the approaching 250th anniversary of its 1776 signing, which will be one year away this July 4.
The Community Drum Circle is scheduled to perform from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. and Greenbelt Honk! Situation is scheduled for 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., replacing the Greenbelt Concert Band which played in previous years.
Greenbelt Baptist Church will host a free celebration across the street from the park from 4 to 7 p.m. where people can enjoy food, a moon bounce, face paint and games. Greenbelt Community Church will also host a picnic prior to the fireworks.
The fireworks will begin at approximately 9 p.m. and will last between 20 and 30 minutes.
Coolers and packages will be inspected upon entry to the park for safety. Alcohol and personal fireworks are prohibited, and pets must be leashed at all times.
Greenbelt Police, Public Works, and Recreation and Parks say that they are prepared to handle crowds of up to 5,000 people. They say they have never exceeded capacity or had to turn anyone away from the celebration, but parking is often an issue due to out-of-town visitors.
Many of these visitors come from College Park, where firework shows have been cancelled in recent years as a result of the Covid pandemic and Purple Line construction.
The parking lot at Buddy Attick Park is reserved for disabled and elderly individuals, according to the City of Greenbelt’s Instagram account. Parking on streets around the park will be temporarily restricted, as will inbound traffic on Crescent Road from Kenilworth Avenue once the fireworks begin.
After the fireworks, exiting traffic will be redirected outbound on Crescent Road toward Kenilworth Avenue, and inbound traffic on Crescent Road will resume once most cars have left the area.
Motorists exiting the Beltway will not be permitted to proceed north on Kenilworth Avenue, and the city advises those heading toward Old Greenbelt to take Greenbelt Road.
The city’s first Fourth of July celebration was held in 1938. The celebrations have been held every year since then except for 1942 to 1945 during World War II, and in 2020 at the peak of the Covid pandemic. The tradition continues in 2025 with no plans to stop.
Will Hammann is a student at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning at the Greenbelt News Review.
