Your Guide to Independence Day in New Brunswick, Highland Park

NEW BRUNSWICK and HIGHLAND PARK – The annual dazzling display of holiday fireworks that on Wednesday will light up the sky – however explosive and exciting – will be just the exclamation point on a night of family fun on both banks of the Raritan River.

In Boyd Park in New Brunswick, the free Independence Day celebration starts at 6 p.m. with music, activities for kids and an array of food available for purchase from local vendors.

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In Donaldson Park in Highland Park, the festivities will also start at 6 p.m. with bounce houses, obstacle courses, music and arts and crafts projects for kids of all ages.

Free face painting will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and strolling entertainers and balloon artists will greet guests starting at 6:30 p.m.

Food trucks will also be on hand. The vendors will include Cinnaholic, Davey B's, Eat My Franks, Green Dog Mobile, Harry's Lil Kitchen, Hot Diggity Dogg's, IL Forno A Legna, La Poncena, Lemonade Blends, Mister Softee, RoBeans LLC, Sweet Concessions, Padd Thai Food Truck, Tasty Tropical, Taco Ruta 100 CDMX, The Zeppole Guys and Uncle Bob's Kettle Corn.

The fireworks show over the Raritan River is scheduled to begin at about 9 p.m.

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In case of rain, the fireworks will take place Sunday, July 7

Local closings

Offices at New Brunswick City Hall and Highland Park Borough Hall will be closed Thursday, July 4.

There will be no classes on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus.

East jersey Old Town Village

On Thursday at 11 a.m., join General George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette and Baron von Steuben for an annual celebration featuring a reenactment of the fue de joie (fire of joy) that took place on July 4th, 1778.

Visitors are urged to bring a blanket or a chair and enjoy a concert of patriotic-themed music performed by the Mark Heter Band.

There will also be children’s crafts, food trucks and more at this event.

NJ Transit

Rail, bus and light rail service will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Wednesday, July 3, with the following enhancements.

From about 2 p.m. until 4 p.m., extra outbound trains will operate from Penn Station New York, Newark Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. As a result, certain trains departing these terminals between 6-7 p.m. will be canceled. Visit njtransit.com or see rail timetables for details.

Extra buses will operate from the Port Authority Bus Terminal on more than two dozen bus routes starting around noon. Visit njtransit.com for details.

On July 4, trains will operate on a weekend/major holiday schedule on all lines, with additional Hoboken-bound trains on the Morristown, Montclair-Boonton and Port Jervis lines for those traveling to the fireworks on the Hudson River during the late afternoon and early evening hours.

Following the fireworks, Trains 81 (Bergen County and Port Jervis Lines) and Train 2129 (Pascack Valley Line) will be held to depart Hoboken after 10 p.m. while other trains from Hoboken make additional stops on the Main and Port Jervis Lines. There will also be additional trains leaving Hoboken on the Morristown and Montclair-Boonton Lines after 10 p.m. See njtransit.com for details.

Northern and Central New Jersey bus routes will operate on a Saturday schedule. Southern New Jersey bus routes will operate on a Sunday schedule. Customers are advised to check their timetables or visit njtransit.com for schedule information. Buses may be subject to detours and service delays Independence Day events. See njtransit.com for details.

Newark Light Rail will operate on a Saturday schedule and River LINE will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule.

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