Snoop Dogg Playing Free July 4th Fireworks Show In North Jersey

A North Jersey city will continue its tradition of attracting some of the most recognizable names in the music industry to its free, annual July 4th fireworks event. For 2018, Jersey City's holiday celebration will include none other than hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg.

“‪Five years ago, I said we would restart Jersey City’s 4th of July fireworks,” Mayor Steven Fulop wrote. “I said then that we would add a free concert and I’d gradually build the event to be one of the best in the country.”

“We’re on our way,” Fulop added.

This year’s spectacle will feature a headline concert performance by Snoop Dogg in Exchange Place Plaza in front of a 200,000-person audience lining the Hudson River waterfront. Looking for the best place to catch Snoop’s performance? According to freedomandfireworks.com:

“For optimal viewing, join the grooving crowd anywhere between Washington Street and Hudson Street. The ADA raised viewing plaza is located along the walkway, south of the stage right at the waterside.”

The celebration will begin at noon on Wednesday, July 4 with a full-scale carnival, several beer gardens and an “elite conglomerate of food trucks,” and will culminate with the world-renowned fireworks company Grucci lighting up the skyline from multiple barges on the Hudson River.

The all-day music, food, technology and entertainment experience is “the state’s largest fireworks show,” organizers said. (See more event info below)

Grucci, who will operate the fireworks display, is a sixth-generation, family-owned and operated fireworks company that has developed a prominent reputation. The company has performed at eight U.S. Presidential Inaugurations, Olympic Games, World's Fairs and earned the Guinness World Record for "largest fireworks display" ever recorded. (See below videos)

Jersey City has engaged hospitality industry entrepreneurs Michael Satsky and Brian Gefter to help plan the festivities.

Since New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's relocated the Macy's fireworks show to the East River, the Jersey City celebration has continued to grow momentum, attracting nearly 100,000 from throughout the region in 2017, with plans to grow the event exponentially in future years, organizers said.

Recent performers have included Kool & The Gang (2017) and the Village People (2016).

• See related article: Massive July 4 Fireworks Show Returns To Jersey City For 2017

2018 EVENT INFORMATION

According to event organizers:

“Spectators are encouraged to arrive by public transportation to the festival area, which is conveniently located with easy access to PATH trains, NY Waterway ferry service from Manhattan, and NJ Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Anyone attending the event should also be advised that any bags or backpacks brought into the designated area are subject to search, and attendees are encouraged to pack belongings in clear bags that show contents. Coolers will not be allowed.”

Other tips from organizers include:

• Parking will be extremely limited, and parking in the surrounding neighborhoods will be reserved for area residents only.
• This year, BikeJC is pleased to provide free bike valet service from 12 to 10 p.m. for all attendees who arrive on two wheels. Residents without bikes may also rent one through Citi Bike, which has several stations location in the festival area, including at Harborside, at the end of Sussex Street, and on Washington and Grand. Please note that the Citi Bike station location at Exchange Place will not be operating on July 4th.
• For a full list of what can be carried into the festival and what is banned, visit http://freedomandfireworks.com/what-to-bring/

See full event details here. Watch a video from the 2017 event below, along with some videos of Grucci fireworks in action.

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Photo: Rich Fury / Getty Images