City: Hartford, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 713-3131

Address: 50 Columbus Blvd.

Description: Hartford poet and insurance salesman Wallace Stevens said of the rivers around Hartford: “It is not to be seen beneath the appearances / that tell of it. The steeple at Farmington / Stands glistening and Haddam shines and sways.” Celebrating this amazing area, Riverfest has become an Independence Day tradition in Connecticut, with free live entertainment, fireworks, food, clowns, and more. It takes place in two parks across the river, the Mortensen Riverfront in Hartford and Great River Park in East Hartford. You can actually take the Founders Bridge Promenade and walk between the two parks if you’d like to see both attractions, about 1.5 miles either direction. And, of course, the event ends with spectacular fireworks, shot into the air from pyrotechnic firing barges on the Connecticut River. Don’t miss it.