11-11-2025 4:48am

Healey Promises "Blockbuster" for Nation's 250th

Alan Earls Editor

Allison Kuznitz | SHNS

Musicians from the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed The Stars and Stripes Forever march at Old South Meeting House last week, offering a taste of the July 4, 2026 celebration on the Charles River Esplanade that will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence's signing.

As state officials gear up for the next round of celebrations surrounding the American Revolution, Gov. Maura Healey broadly previewed plans for the "signature event" of MA250.

"It is going to be an incredible, memorable, unforgettable blockbuster of an event on the Esplanade this summer, July 4th, and that is the Boston Pops' celebration of Independence Day," Healey said. "It's going to be fantastic. I want you to know this thrilling concert and fireworks show — we know has been long known around the world and celebrated, and so many people come it to every year — but I can tell you, Massachusetts, that July 4th, 2026, is going to be like something we have never, ever, ever seen before."

MA250 is also gearing up for commemorations surrounding the Henry Knox Noble Train of Artillery of 1776, in which weaponry was transported from New York to Boston. Massachusetts next summer will also be home to FIFA World Cup matches and the return of the Tall Ships.

"It's pretty clear the world is coming to Massachusetts, and we are ready to rock," Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said.

Healey said Massachusetts is giving $2.5 million to the BSO to produce the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular, which is free to the public to attend. The event will feature "top national talent" and "the best fireworks ever," the governor said.

"We are going to pack the Esplanade up and down Storrow Drive and every bridge and every vantage point from this great city," Healey said. "It's going to be a showcase of our leadership in arts and culture, and education, the revolutionary spirit."

Chad Smith, CEO of the BSO, said the show has a new national media partner in CNN and is working with event planner Bryan Rafanelli. Performances will include "living legends" and "emerging stars" across genres like R&B, hip-hop and country. Artists will be announced in the "coming months," he said.

The governor also said $3.5 million in MA250 community grants will support more than 96 organizations involved in statewide celebrations. Representatives were on hand Monday from Historic Deerfield, Mass Humanities, Hingham Historical Society, the Museum of African American History, Concord Museum and Concord Visitor Center, Rose Kennedy Greenway and the USS Constitution Museum.

Bob Rivers, executive chair and chair of the board of directors at Eastern Bank, will serve as the chair of the MA250 Executive Committee. The newly created group will consist of business, civic and cultural leaders.

The committee is looking to raise at least $8 million to support events, and Rivers said a dozen businesses so far have donated $250,000 or more. Takeda committed $1 million to MA250, and Vertex has given $500,000. Other corporate sponsors include Amazon, Bank of America, Eastern Bank, Liberty Mutual, M&T Bank, Meet Boston, New Balance, Optum and Sanofi.

For its own MA250 commemorative endeavor, the nonprofit organization Revolutionary Spaces is working on a new initiative for Old South Meeting House.

"Launching next July is a groundbreaking, multisensory experience in this room," said Revolutionary Spaces CEO Nat Sheidley. "We'll use immersive storytelling, layered sound, animation, innovative technology in ways never before seen on the Freedom Trail, inviting audiences not just to understand but to feel in their hearts Boston's role as the birthplace of American democracy like they never have before."

Old South Meeting House will preview the initiative on Dec. 16, Sheidley said.

Alison Kuznitz is a reporter for State House News Service and State Affairs