Chicago summer is back, and with it comes the return of some of our favorite city traditions \u2014 impromptu dance parties at street festivals, fashion-forward Lolla looks taking over downtown, and the iconic Navy Pier fireworks painting the night sky twice a week.<\/p>\n
What started back in 1995 as a modest lakefront display has become a must-see Chicago summer event. These free shows now feature choreographed music and lighting, and in 2023, they were even named Best Fireworks in the Nation by USA Today\u2019s 10 Best Readers\u2019 Choice Awards. Safe to say \u2014 they\u2019re a big deal.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve never experienced Navy Pier fireworks from the water, it\u2019s time to add it to your Chicago summer bucket list. Whether you\u2019re celebrating a birthday, planning a surprise date night, or just cruising with friends, catching the show from a boat is one of the most memorable ways to enjoy it.<\/p>\n
Navy Pier Fireworks light up the lakefront every Wednesday at 9PM and every Saturday at 10PM from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. For the best experience, we suggest starting your boat rental about an hour before the show. That way, you can catch golden hour views of the skyline and get a good spot before the sky lights up.<\/p>\n
2025 Navy Pier Fireworks Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n Saturdays at 10PM<\/strong> Wednesdays at 9PM<\/strong> Boat rentals on fireworks nights fill up fast \u2014 especially weekend evenings \u2014 so we recommend reserving early if you have a specific date in mind. Whether you\u2019re downtown or launching from Rockwell on the River, watching fireworks from the water offers a front-row seat to the summer magic Chicago does best.<\/p>\n Let the countdown to fireworks season begin! See you on the water. \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chicago\u2019s favorite summer tradition is back \u2014 and there\u2019s no better view than from the water. Find out when the Navy Pier fireworks light up the sky in 2025 and how to plan the ultimate boat night to see them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,154,31,5,10,25,153,94,51,49,50,148,138],"class_list":["post-881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-boats","tag-chicago-activities","tag-chicago-river","tag-chicago-riverwalk","tag-chicagoland","tag-eco-friendly","tag-firework-show","tag-fireworks","tag-memorial-day-weekend","tag-navy-pier","tag-navy-pier-fireworks","tag-summer-2025","tag-things-to-do-in-chicago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":889,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881\/revisions\/889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoboatcompany.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n(Ideal rental start: 9PM)<\/em>
\nMay 24
\nJune 7 | June 14 | June 21 | June 28
\nJuly 5 | July 12 | July 19 | July 26
\nAugust 2 | August 9 | August 16 | August 23 | August 30<\/p>\n
\n(Ideal rental start: 8PM)<\/em>
\nMay 28
\nJune 4 | June 11 | June 18 | June 25
\nJuly 2 | July 9 | July 16 | July 23 | July 30
\nAugust 6 | August 13 | August 20 | August 27<\/p>\n