It’s safe to say the people of Boston haven’t changed much over the last 250 years. Resilient, rebellious, resolute, rowdy. These all speak to what defines, and what has defined Bostonians since the days of the American Revolution.
The start of the 250th anniversary festivities was delayed by an hour due to inclement weather.
Many attendees huddled under Storrow Drive bridges and tunnels, taking the foul weather in stride.
Once the storms subsided, performances from Trombone Shorty, Chance the Rapper, Lainey Wilson and Megan Hilty shook the rain from everybody’s system. And the Boston Pops, led by conductor Keith Lockhart, came to impress yet again.
One detail driving home the weight of the 250th anniversary was the amount of security in and around the Esplanade. Police and state troopers stood at every corner, officers on horseback announced their presence without a word and Storrow Drive had barricade after barricade.
The crowd also heard from Governor Maura Healey, Mayor Michelle Wu and Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson throughout the evening.
The fireworks both met and obliterated my expectations. I assumed that Boston would step up the show for the 250th anniversary, and it did not disappoint.
At times, it looked as if one could reach out and grab the sparks out of the sky. Those on the Esplanade’s islands, myself included, were showered with a fair amount of soot and burnt paper from the fireworks.
As people left the festivities, some took the rare opportunity of enjoying the closure of one of Boston’s busiest roadways.
Some people sat down with picnic blankets in the middle of Storrow Drive. Others, much to the chagrin of state troopers, climbed the fences that separate Storrow Drive from Back Bay.
Boston has come so far in the 250-year history of the United States. Still, the people and the ideals that drive them remain as strong as they were during the Revolution.