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Early Independence Day celebration, fireworks show returns to Astoria Park next week

A free Independence Day celebration with live music and fireworks will light up Astoria Park next week. The fireworks display at last year’s event, pictured. (Photo by Walter Karling)

June 19, 2023 By Michael Dorgan

A free Independence Day celebration with live music and fireworks will light up Astoria Park next week.

The Central Astoria Local Development Coalition (LDC) Inc. is hosting its early Independence Day celebration on the Astoria Park Great Lawn, on Shore Boulevard between the Hell Gate Bridge and the pool, on June 29 at 7:30 p.m.

The Central Astoria LDC Inc., a nonprofit organization, has been hosting its annual 4th of July event since the 1980s, and past years have drawn crowds of around 20,000 people.

The community event will feature a performance by Swingtime Big Band, a 20-person jazz band known for playing music from the swing era.

The musical performances will be followed by a firework show put on by Fireworks by Grucci, a family-run company that has been putting on firework displays since the 1850s.

A free Independence Day celebration with live music and fireworks will light up Astoria Park next week. The fireworks display at last year’s event, pictured. (Photo by Walter Karling)

The event has been known to draw around 20,000 people (Photo by Walter Karling)

The event also marks the beginning of the Central Astoria LDC’s 2023 Waterfront Concert Series and its 2023 Movies on the Waterfront season.

Marie Torniali, the executive director of the Central Astoria LDC, said the Independence Day celebration has proven extremely popular since it was first established in the 1980s.

“The Central Astoria Independence Day Celebration on the waterfront of beautiful Astoria Park brings thousands of people from every corner of the world to our amazing neighborhood, united to celebrate
Independence Day of our great country,” Torniali said.

The event is made possible by funding provided by former Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and a number of corporate sponsors.

A video clip of last year’s fireworks display

The community event will feature a performance by Swingtime Big Band, a 20-person jazz band known for playing music from the swing era

email the author: news@queenspost.com

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