PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Crews at the Navy Yard were busy on Monday loading fireworks for the two New Year's Eve spectacles over the Delaware River. Those shows are in addition to the display after the concert on the Parkway. And they'll be bigger than ever for 2026.
LL Cool J will headline a free concert along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway before the annual fireworks show. The show will include performances by Philly’s own DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone, the hard rock band Dorothy, and Technician the DJ. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m.
Then come the big displays. The 6 p.m. and midnight firework shows will have different themes, with one thing in common: They will be fired from three locations in the Delaware River, said Erika Joy Erb, vice president of marketing for the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.
"It is three barges. So usually it's just one. But this year, in addition to the additional barges, we're going to have bigger shells that are going to light up the skies so that you can see the shows from further away,” Erb said.
Paul Gaffney, regional operations manager with the firm Pyrotecnico, said his crew is loading those shells into mortars and wiring them to a computer, which will synchronize the show to the musical soundtrack.
"There'll be chrysanthemums, there'll be rings, there'll be almost any shape object. There'll be mines, comets, all kinds of devices,” he said.
With the ongoing I-95 CAP construction, Erb recommends taking SEPTA or PATCO to get to Penn's Landing.
The firework displays are free, but people can get a closer view through paid ticketed viewing parties at the RiverRink, including one at Cherry Street Pier, which will have a Philly icon.
"We're so excited about the addition of partnering with the National Liberty Museum, who is going to bring a 2,000-pound replica of the Liberty Bell, which, get this, you can actually ring,” Erb said.
If you can’t make it in person, don’t worry, you can listen to the whole thing on KYW Newsradio at 103.9 FM, 1060 AM, or on our app.