T
he lawn in front of the Hatch Shell was a living blanket of red, white, and blue Monday evening as thousands of people from around the country gathered for the annual Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.
They brought tents, coolers, and plenty of Red Bull to fuel the long wait, which for many had begun hours beforehand. When the Esplanade gates opened Monday morning at 9 a.m., hundreds of people were already lined up to sprint to a prime spot for the 8:30 p.m. concert and 10:30 p.m. fireworks honoring the nation’s 240th birthday.
Ready, set, run, tarp! That’s the secret recipe to securing a good view of headliners Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Little Big Town, and of course the famed Boston Pops, according to Megan Shinker, 14, of Stow, Ohio.
Arriving at 10 a.m. on July 3rd, Shinker and her family had spent all day and night waiting for the Hatch Shell gates to open. Shinker was her family’s delegate for the “tarp run,’’ when dedicated revelers lay claim to the best spots.
“The runners, we give everything to the other people,’’ said Shinker. “Any jewelry, anything that might get scanned, we give them all our bags — we’re just us and a tarp. We speed through security and we get up here as fast as we can.’’
Before the musical performances began, Governor Charlie Baker took the stage Monday evening to bid farewell to David Mugar, who is retiring after more than four decades at the helm of the event. Baker designated July 4, 2016 as David Mugar Day in Massachusetts and said a statute of him will be built on the Esplanade.
Mugar said he was “overwhelmed’’ by the honor but declined to speculate on the future of the show, which is in jeopardy amid sponsorship issues.
“I am going to take the Bill Belichick route and say we have 2016 to do, and after this is done, then we’ll start talking about 2017,’’ Mugar said, referring to the famously tight-lipped head coach of the New England Patriots. “I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but tonight. . . it’s show time and that’s it.’’
The show included a cover of “Desperado’’ by Jonas, who sang the Eagles ballad with accompaniment by the Pops. Lovato followed and played “Stone Cold,’’ one of her hits.
Later in the evening, fireworks lit up the night sky as revelers watched from land and from boats on the Charles.
The eyes of 10-month-old Vincent Hardie were fixed on the sky once the fireworks began about 10:30 p.m.
Moments earlier, his mother, Holly, had been worried about how her son would react to the pyrotechnic display. “I think we’re good,’’ she said, as she held her spellbound child.
Natasha Cotter and her family watched the presentation from two kayaks on the Charles. “I’ve always wanted to do this, because I’ve always been on the Esplanade watching this, wishing I was on the water,’’ she said.
Security at the event was tight. David Procopio, a spokesman for Massachusetts State Police, said the security measures were a combined effort by multiple state and federal agencies, and included uniformed and plainclothes officers.
All told, authorities arrested one man for outstanding warrants for drug offenses and placed two intoxicated people into protective custody, Procopio said
Twenty-four-year-old Jamie Brotsky and her friend Stephen Gaudet, 22, did not expect the security to be so strict. Security personnel checked everything, they said, from inside their wallets to the seals of their water bottles.
Although some of those who staked out prime seats were seasoned visitors, others were newbies, eager to check the celebration off their bucket lists. That was the case for 53-year-old Sandy McLaughlin, of Foxborough, and her twin sister, Susan Snyder.
“We were finally able to make it work this year after my sister got a hotel room in Boston for this as a Christmas gift,’’ McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin and Snyder whiled away the hours by playing cards with other revelers.
Others passed the time by people-watching. “Just watching the parade of life,’’ said Jane Angelhart of her favorite part of the Independence Day festivities. “Seeing all the people that care and are happy to be Americans.’’
Ricky Desisto, a 58-year-old from Salem, N.H., was one of those people. “I’ve had my picture taken three, four times now,’’ he bragged.
Desisto was clad in an Uncle Sam outfit, which he wears every year to the celebration.
Mary McPartland, a Boston native, has attended the show for decades — as a spectator when she was a child, and now as a businesswoman. She owns the Frozen Hoagies ice cream food truck, one of a scattering of food trucks across the Esplanade. “We used to ride our bikes here around as kids, back in the ’70s and ’80s,’’ she said from behind the counter.
For these longtime concertgoers, the prospect of there being no show next year makes for a “lonely July Fourth,’’ said Mike Fitzgerald of Milton.
“They come here this time of year knowing this is part of their visit,’’ Fitzgerald said of the out-of-state concertgoers. “They probably wouldn’t come, otherwise.’’
Dina Rudick, Evan Allen, Aimee Ortiz, and Travis Andersen of the Globe staff, and Globe correspondents Vivian Wang, Megan McKee, Bret Hauff, Nancy Shohet Wes, Joe Incollingo, and Sonia Rao contributed to this report.
