Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis has announced that the Peninsula City’s Independence Day celebration will be held on Wednesday, July 2nd at the lower level of DiDomenico-16th Street Park, beginning at 6:30 pm, weather permitting. There will be a rain date of Thursday, July 3, if needed.
Free children’s inflatable rides will be available from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The rides will be stationed in the old amphitheater, which is located at the southeastern corner of the park’s lower level.
As far as musical entertainment, The Suspects band will perform at 7:00 p.m. The New Jersey-based group specializes in dance party music from the 1980’s. The Suspects will play at the municipal amphitheater, which is located at the southwestern corner of the lower level of the park, near Newark Bay.
The highlight of the evening will be the fireworks display, which is scheduled to go off at approximately 9:15 p.m. The fireworks show will run for about 30 minutes.
Residents are advised that chairs will not be provided for the fireworks and the concert on July 2, due to the expected size of the crowd. Spectators are asked to bring their own chairs on July 2 and on future concert dates. A limited number of chairs will be provided at later concerts this summer.
Throughout the celebration, food vendors will be located in the parking lot.
A buffer zone will be created in the park and the bay for residents’ safety. Only authorized people will be allowed inside the buffer zone. No pleasure craft in Newark Bay will be permitted within a perimeter of at least 500 feet from the launch site, as per the U.S. Coast Guard. The Bayonne Fire Department will have a boat in the bay during the show.
The Bayonne Recreation Division is providing free shuttle bus service for the event and will pick up passengers at East 24th Street and Church Lane. This location is near two parking lots: Parking Lot 6 (behind Archie’s Cab) and Parking Lot 7 (behind Valley Bank).
Shuttle bus service will begin at 6:00 p.m., and will drop off passengers at the lower level parking lot alongside the tennis courts until 8:30 p.m. Following the fireworks, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the buses will pick up passengers at the same area for the return trip to East 24th Street and Church Lane.
Shuttles will continue to run until all passengers have been returned to East 24th Street and Church Lane, by approximately 11:00 p.m.