Footloose on the Freedom Trail is a 3 hour walking tour of the entire Freedom Trail from the State House to the USS Constitution offered every Independence Day.

photograph of the reading of the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence broadside printing prepared by John Dunlap arrived in Massachusetts via express riders on July 15, 1776 and was printed in Ezekiel Russell's American Gazette, a Salem newspaper, on July 16.

Colonel Thomas Crafts read the Declaration from the balcony of the Town House on July 18, 1776, the same day it appeared in The New-England Chronicle, Vol. VIII No. 413, published by Edward E. Powars & Nathanial Willis.

Crowds and Boston By Foot tours gather every year to hear a reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old State House. Photo by Tom Coppeto. 2007.

The tour winds among Boston's parades and celebrations and includes the honoring of Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere at the Granary Burying Ground, and the reading of the Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the Old State House.

photograph of the Boston Pops
The granite Hatch Shell was built in 1940 with funds donated by Maria Hatch in memory of her brother, Edward. The largest orchestra audience in history attended the 4th of July concert in 1976. That record of 400,000 has since been broken 3 times. At the Hatch Shell in 1998, 2003 and 2004.
John Mellencamp plays at the Hatch Shell with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra joined by the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums. Photo by Tom Coppeto. 2007.

Following the tour, celebrations continue through the day and conclude with the Pops concert and fireworks display over the Charles.

Boston By Foot Brochure listing Boston tours in 2009 season 2010 brochure will be ready soon Boston By Foot Guided Walking Tours For Boston By Foot Docents. Sign up for the Spring Lecture Series.