The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will perform on the Fourth of July in Bushnell Park as a part of a special “America 250 Commemorative Concert.”
The concert is part of the sixth annual Hartford Bonanza festival, which will also feature what organizers are calling “the region’s largest Independence Day fireworks display.”
The July 4 event will replace the 2026 edition of the orchestra’s free Symphony in the Park series, which typically happens in June. The symphony will still do the annual “Celebrate America!” patriotic concert it holds as part of its outdoor summer Talcott Mountain Music Series at the Simsbury Meadows. The “Celebrate America!” concert in Simsbury will be held on July 3, one day before the Hartford Bonanza concert.
The Hartford Bonanza festival is presented by First Night Hartford, the same local nonprofit that has produced the First Night Hartford New Year’s Eve events that have taken place throughout downtown Hartford every year since the late 1980s.
This is the first announcement of what will be a series of special events that Hartford Bonanza and the city of Hartford are planning for the nation’s semiquincentennial.
The July 4 event will feature the full orchestra performing on the festival’s main stage as part of that will include other arts events, family activities, local history, food trucks and more.
“The 250th anniversary, like the Bicentennial before it, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Jeff Devereux, First Night Hartford executive director, said in a statement. “We want to celebrate it in a way that feels true to Connecticut — creative, collaborative and community-centered. Partnering with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra to bring their incredible talent and tradition to the Bonanza stage for a statewide gathering for residents and visitors of all ages is the perfect way to meet the moment.”
Besides a full seasons of MasterWorks and pops concerts plus special events such as providing live accompaniment to ballets and film screenings, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1934, regularly performs at community-rooted events and has also played accessible chamber concerts at restaurants, coworking spaces and other venues.
This year, Carolyn Kuan, the symphony’s music director since 2011, announced that she would be stepping down from that position at the end of the 2027 season.