Americans marked the country’s 249th Independence Day with large-scale fireworks, parades and concerts that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The night sky above Washington, D.C., lit up with bursts over the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial and the Washington Monument, while networks and streaming services carried live images from coast to coast. New York City staged the 49th annual Macy’s Fourth of July show, firing roughly 80,000 shells—about 20,000 more than last year—from barges near the Brooklyn Bridge and along the East River, sending effects as high as 1,000 feet. Spectacular displays also anchored San Diego’s Big Bay Boom, Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, Houston, Los Angeles and other metropolitan centers. Community events complemented the pyrotechnics. Fort Lauderdale’s Las Olas Oceanside Park festival drew beachgoers for music and games, while San Francisco’s waterfront display went ahead under clear skies even after a deadly explosion at a fireworks storage facility in Yolo County prompted several Northern California communities to cancel or scale back their shows. Independence Day travel set new benchmarks ahead of the 250th anniversary next year. Auto club AAA estimated more than 72 million people would journey at least 50 miles during the extended holiday, the highest figure on record, and the Federal Aviation Administration projected the busiest July Fourth week in 15 years. Fireworks suppliers said the holiday’s biggest productions escaped significant cost increases despite a 30% U.S. tariff on Chinese-made shells, because most orders were placed months earlier. The American Pyrotechnics Association cautioned that higher duties—or a return to the previously threatened 145% rate—could strain municipal budgets as cities plan even larger celebrations for the semiquincentennial in 2026.