The 4th of July is one enormous celebration in Boston that spans multiple days with all types of events, all over the city. Go2 celebrated the 4th of July in Boston with the cruise, the concerts, the fireworks and more. We took thousands of photos and we want to share them with you. There are four virtual tour photo galleries that are shown below with one cover photo for each gallery. There is a sneak peek gallery shown at the bottom that serves as a highly abridged but broad-ranging version of these galleries.
Boston 4th of July: Boston Pops Almost the 4th Dinner Cruise Photos
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Boston 4th of July: The Pops Rehearsal Concert Photos
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Boston 4th of July: 2016 Boston Fireworks from Cambridge
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Boston 4th of July Weekend: Cambridge & MIT Tour
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Boston July 4th Weekend: Three Days of Events
Boston Harborfest spans three days and features history tours, pub crawls, scavenger hunts, a whale watch, chocolate making demonstrations, historical weapons program, Boston Public Market events, cruises, tall ship tours, free concerts, street performers, fireworks and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, which takes two nights to complete features fundraising dinner cruises, an outstanding rehearsal concert with the BSO, famous recording stars, a small fireworks show, confetti and a cannon salute and of course the main July 4th concert with one of the largest fireworks shows in the nation.
The Boston Pops Almost the Fourth Dinner Cruise and Rehearsal Concert is a fundraiser that features a cruise around Boston on the Charles River, dinner, and VIP reserved seating at the Pops Rehearsal Concert. The All-American meal comes complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, wine, cocktails and more. The hour long cruise provided by the Charles River Boat Company highlights some of the most famous sites in Boston. The tour begins at the dock of the CambridgeSide Galleria mall in Cambridge and ends at the Community Boating Pier in Boston, near the Hatch Shell.
The Pops concerts featured the BSO with conductor Keith Lockhart, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and Little Big Town. Nancy O’Dell of Entertainment Tonight was the host for the this year’s shows.
Boston July 4th Mini Tour


















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Boston July 4th Virtual Tour Notes:
- A Sailboat crosses our path on the Charles River at sunset with MIT’s Green Building on the horizon.
- A patriotic pile of flags, streamers, funny hats and leis greeted us as we boarded the tour boat.
- It was a beautiful sunny afternoon for a tour of Boston on the Charles River Boat Company’s Charles I.
- A group of us watched the city pass by on the bow of the boat.
- The watermelon, blackberries, and blueberries were irresistible to photograph and eat.
- A Boston Duck Boat Tour vessel travels down the Charles River with the city and the Longfellow (Salt and Pepper Bridge) in the background.
- Fellow cruiser enjoys the Pops BBQ buffet with hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni, and cheese.
- We found this cute little yellow house near MIT on the way to the pizza restaurant, Za.
- Za Restaurant’s Aruguloni Pizza was incredibly fresh, tasty and filling.
- The Alexander Calder sculpture in front of the Green Building on the MIT campus is a masterpiece of modern art and design that makes for great abstract photographs.
- Here’s your’s truly with a photo of my Mom who passed away decades ago. Mom grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Boston. She met my father in Boston during the war, married, moved to Alabama and had five children. Spending the rest of her life in the deep south, she always longed to get back to the city she loved. I brought her back with me to the Boston Pops Rehearsal Concert!
- One of my new favorite spots in the world is this park in front of One Cambridge Center, which is at the intersection of Main, Broadway and Third Street. The fountain acts as a centerpiece that makes this a great public space for people watching and relaxing.
- A patriotic family enjoyed the perfect weather and the setting sun as others find their reserved seats at the rehearsal.
- Thousands of people get to the park early to stake out a good spot for the free concert and the spectacle at the Hatch Shell in Boston.
- That’s one happy family selfie.
- The Boston July 4th Fireworks are extremely hard to photograph because they are simply so much BIGGER than your usual fireworks show. They’re larger than any that we’ve ever shot, and our location that was unfortunately far too close to capture them. They’re truly magnificent. This blue and white photo, however, turned out pretty well.
- The Boston Pops Rehearsal Concert is a free concert that helps the performers and the organizers get all the timing down before the big show with the fireworks on the Fourth. It truly is a spectacle that requires an immense amount of planning and organization.
- This Boston July 4th fireworks grouping was in whites and golds.
- The boats at the marina at the Community Boating Association were decked out in Fuschia and Blue Lights for the holiday.
- South African Photo Tour Director James Gradwell was shooting the Boston Fireworks down the Esplanade from us. He came up with this beautiful shot of the fireworks against the Boston skyline.
- Finally, this last shot of Boston, July 4th fireworks from Cambridge features green fireworks reflecting in the waters of the Charles River.
The 4th of July in Boston: Wrapup and Thanks
We want to thank Taryn Lott, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Melissa Hurley, Boston 4 Productions, The Charles River Boat Company, Cambridge Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Star Market, MIT, The Coop @ MIT, and Za Restaurant in Cambridge for making the 4th of July in Boston an experience that we will never forget. We can’t wait to return next year.
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