Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular

About the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular:

Nearly 90 years ago, before Arthur Fiedler became Conductor of the Boston Pops, he was struck with an idea that was to transform the orchestra’s relationship to the City of Boston. He believed that if great literature was available for free in public libraries, and masterpieces of art could be viewed for a modest fee in museums, then great symphonic music should be accessible to the masses on a similar basis.

Fiedler, who was at the time a violist in the Boston Symphony, as well as a conductor of his own ensemble, set about raising funds to bring his idea to fruition. After two years, on July 4, 1929, the first free Esplanade Concert was performed at the specially constructed acoustic shell along the banks of the Charles River. The orchestra was composed of roughly half the musicians of the Boston Symphony. That first season of free concerts, which attracted more than 208,000 people, was such a resounding confirmation of Fiedler’s vision that the Boston Symphony management was swayed to sign Fiedler to a three-year conducting contract, which was only the beginning of five decades of leading the Pops, until his death in 1979.

In 2017, the Pops opened a new page in its history, as the Pops organization presented its first self-produced Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. This year the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular will mark its 49th year as one of the nation’s proudest holiday traditions. Eaton Vance, a leading global asset manager based in Boston, is the presenting sponsor of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, is a major sponsor and media partner; both companies made initial three-year commitments to the event.