Pops on the River will be a celebration of our Independence Day on Saturday, July 4, at Coolidge Park. The event is produced by the Chattanooga Downtown Partnership and features the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Orchestra with Robert Bernhardt, music director and conductor.

Pops on the River, an outdoor musical concert, will be held from 8-9:45 p.m., concluding with a patriotic fireworks finale over the Tennessee River. It is presented free to the public by sponsoring organizations Comcast, Alstom and Allied Arts.

This year, Pops on the River will combine patriotic music, a salute to the men and women in the armed forces, guest artists and the CSO Orchestra in a program designed for the entire family.

Fletcher Bright and The Dismembered Tennesseans will play a set with the Orchestra bringing their musicianship and humor to the stage. Other guests are Tim and Sara King. This father/daughter duo will sing a set of songs from contemporary Disney animated feature films, such as "Pocahontas" and "Beauty and the Beast."

There will be Sousa Marches, a Singalong, and popular and familiar music for Independence Day. A presentation of colors will be made by the Chattanooga Fire Department’s Color Guard, and a T-34 military flyover, courtesy of the Dallas Bay Skypark Flight School, will present a salute to the “red, white and blue.”

The night will end with the 1812 overture of Tchaikovsky, and a patriotic fireworks display over the Tennessee River.

The public is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy a picnic during this concert and fireworks display. Food, beer and non-alcoholic drink concessions will be available on site. A rain date for the concert is scheduled for Sunday, July 5.

Coolidge Park will be closing to vehicular traffic at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the show. Attendees are encouraged to park in UNUM parking lots between 4th and 5th Streets at no charge, where, beginning at 6 p.m., busses will pick up and take passengers across the river, unloading near the Chattanooga Theatre Centre. At the end of the show, busses will pick up at the intersection of Tremont and River Streets to return attendees to the UNUM parking lots. The last bus will leave the park at 10:45 p.m. There will also be limited parking available at Renaissance Park off Manufacturer’s Road.