This summer, on Saturday, July 4, thousands of Hartford residents and visitors from around the state and region will gather in our capital city's historic Downtown for our FREE 6th Annual Hartford Bonanza festival featuring fireworks, live music & art, food trucks, local vendors, vintage fashion, a Civic Marketplace, and plenty more! This year, in partnership with the America 250 CT Commission and other regional collaborators, Hartford Bonanza will serve as the statewide Connecticut commemorative festival and fireworks celebration, offering the largest traditional Fourth of July fireworks display in the region. To meet this moment, we are expanding our artistic programming, our civic engagement and recreation opportunities, our audience capacity, and our reach to community members of all ages and backgrounds. Let's make history together!

Our inclusive, all-ages arts & culture celebration aims to bring Hartford together in our public park and around downtown for joy, recreation, dancing, food, fun, and opportunities for engagement with history, art, culture, civics...and each other. This festival is independently produced by the same team that brings you First Night Hartford, our New Year's Eve community celebration, and is funded by YOU--the people who live in and visit Hartford, our corporate & small business neighbors, and the private foundations who value the region's vibrant arts & cultural scene. (First Night Hartford and Hartford Bonanza are offered through your generous, community-centric support & our cultural ecosystem partners--these events are not organized or currently funded by the City of Hartford.)

Donations now, during our team's planning and preparations through 2025 and 2026, help us confidently expand programming, hire more artists, and offer even more options for your Independence Day Weekend community fun. We expect to double the audience size--and therefore the required resources to offer an expanded arts, culture & community experience--in 2026 after already growing this event year over year thanks to YOU, our Hartford community!

Your tax-deductible donation of any amount supports our goals to offer artistic performances and other excellent programming that reflect our creative city back to itself, inspire civic joy, and create unique opportunities for togetherness and Hartford pride.

With your help, we will raise $10,000 or more in this important Hartford Bonanza + America 250 Fundraising Campaign as we serve our audiences, celebrate our ambitious, community-centric mission, and launch into the work of 2026 strong thanks to your generous, ongoing support.

Your donation will help cover expenses paid by our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on behalf of the capital city community these two annual celebrations serve. Questions about our nonprofit organization and its projects? We'd love to connect! Email firstnight.hartford@gmail.com.

Meet the Moment: Support Hartford Bonanza 2026 + America 250 Connecticut Commemoration!