Jersey City Takes On July 4th: Fireworks, Snoop Dogg And More

Jersey City dominated July 4th, 2018 with cookouts, live performances, and fireworks. From Snoop Dogg to dance offs, Daniela's Lens was there to capture it all for Patch! Check out our exclusive gallery below to relive all of the fun.

3:32 p.m.
I make my way to the press tent and pick up my credentials. Exchange Place in Jersey City is already a scene. Lots of families are out and about enjoying the day.

3:42 p.m.
"Do you want a free pincho?" says the griller when he sees my press pass.
"Yes! Thank you!" I say and take a photo of him and tell him to hold up a piece of meat.

3:45 p.m.
"Do you want me to wear the sunglasses?"
"Yes! And hold these melon pieces, please!"

3:49 p.m.
"Make Tacos great again!"

3:51 p.m.
@tashi458 and @ehmbers

3:56 p.m.
These girls are from Japan. @chihiro_manabe, @sally.pii, and @ai_ri_714

3:59 p.m.
Cute couple!

4:06 p.m.
"Is that Snoop Dogg opening tonight? Are you Snoop Dogg? You are Snoop Dogg!" someone says to the dog.

4:14 p.m.
"What's going on here?"
"We jump for Jerry! He died after being struck by a car, and we started the @Jump4Jerry competition because he loved Double Dutch so much." one of the moms says.

4:45 p.m.

Stars and stripes!

5:06 p.m.
Party ready!

5:07 p.m.
@mseverywoman329

5:09 p.m.
Stars!

5:15 p.m.
A lot of dancing is going on in Jersey City today.
This is Derek D Mobley aka @slugger_twin07 showing off his krumping skills which is a type of street dance.

5:20 p.m.
Selfie time!

6:56 p.m.
The young dancers from @dv8tordancers

6:57 p.m.
Wow!

6:59 p.m.
This kid will join the group soon, I'm sure.

7:05 p.m.
More dancing.

7:35 p.m.
The crowd.

7:37 p.m.

Hi, there!

7:58 p.m.
Adrian Grenier is here for a good cause.
"We have no straws at this event today, and that's for a reason!"
He explains that plastic straws are polluting the water and harming sea life. He supports strawlessocean.org.
"Stop sucking! Save our ocean!" he says.

8:01 p.m.

Bayli goes on stage.

8:25 p.m.
I'm all the way in front of the stage next to the loudspeakers, and I forgot to bring earplugs. One of the photographers hands me a piece of paper and shows me how to fiddle it into my ears.

8:32 p.m.
"What's in there?" I ask and stuck my head into the canon to see more closely. It's filled with fake paper dollars.

8:48 p.m.
It's hot and very humid. We are waiting for Snoop Dogg. He is already an hour late. I'm very thirsty. A tiny bottle of water is $4 in the backstage area, but I can't leave here anyway because I would lose my photo spot.
A guy from the production company comes over and hands the confetti cannon operators water bottles.
The other photographers look very thirsty, too.

8:51 p.m.
The crowd starts chanting "We want Snoop! We want Snoop!".

9:10 p.m.

The security team tells us we have three songs, then we need to leave. That's normal in concert photography. They don't want us to take photos of a sweating performer.
Then they check every photographer's credentials again and kick out a few girls that somehow made it into the front row photographer pit. One of them starts arguing. Not a good idea, girl. A gigantic security guy shows up, and that's the end of it.

9:24 p.m.
Finally, it's Snoop Dogg time! I shoot away. They don't fire the dollar confetti cannon while I'm there. Bummer, I was looking forward to getting some great photos of that.

9:25 p.m.
But Snoop Dogg is a great mood, and the crowd is cheering him up. It's a happy spectacle.

9:30 p.m.

Snoop Dogg brought a mascot.

9:34 p.m.

I make my way to the VIP area on the Hudon from where I will be watching the Jersey City fireworks. The traditional New York City fireworks are on the other side of Manhattan facing Brooklyn.

10:17 p.m.
The fireworks! Jersey City does a great job tonight wowing the viewers with a spectacular fireworks show.

10:22 p.m.
More fireworks!

10:52 p.m.

I walk 3.5 miles home. It's still unbelievably hot, and I can't figure out the bus situation. The streets are crowded with people celebrating the 4th of July. I feel like a dried out sponge that's going to crack into pieces any second. At home, I binge several bottles of water before taking my shoes off.

Daniela Kirsch is co-founder of NameFace — a facial recognition application that can identify celebrities in photographs. Through her technical and creative expertise, Kirsch has changed the entertainment industry, and she knows more than just a thing or two about photographing A-list events.

Also, be sure to check out our Long Beach Patch as Daniela's Lens takes us right to the sand and waves for this morning's July 4th celebrations.

• Get Your Stars And Stripes On: See July 4th Pics In Long Beach