Los Angeles block party marks America250 with music and fireworks

At Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, America250 turned July Fourth into a music-first block party, with Queen Latifah hosting a lineup that included Chris Stapleton, The Smashing Pumpkins, Maren Morris, Anthony Ramos and special guest Chaka Khan. The show ended with fireworks and a drone spectacular.

The Los Angeles event began at 3 p.m. in Block Party Village with free food, drinks, face painting, games and giveaways before the headline concert. Tickets were priced at $17.76, a nod to the year 1776, and America250 donated 5,000 free tickets to first responders, veterans and service members.

The gathering marked the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the semiquincentennial that falls on July 4, 2026. Congress created the United States Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to plan and coordinate the commemoration, and America250 is marking the anniversary across the country with seven host locations, more than 1,200 grassroots celebrations, a nationwide livestream experience and programming on iHeart.com. The organization also launched a mobile app to help Americans find, join, host and stream local events.

The split screen with Washington was impossible to miss. Multiple performers backed out of a National Mall event tied to America’s 250th birthday after concerns that it seemed political, and Trump called for cancellation of the concert after the withdrawals.

CBS will air its own July Fourth broadcast, “The Great American Block Party 250,” at 8 p.m. ET on July 4, with Tony Dokoupil and Nischelle Turner hosting concerts and fireworks from coast to coast.