Head on over to Branch Brook Park tonight for a Fourth of July celebration, including a performance by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) followed by a dazzling fireworks display.

Beginning at 6 p.m. at the park's Great Lawn, near Heller Parkway, families can enjoy child-sized orchestral instruments to play, provided by Touch the Music, and student ensembles from the greater Newark area will perform.

At 7:30 p.m., NJSO will perform hits from the stage and the screen, like music from "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," Richard Rodgers’ "Carousel Waltz," while Gilbert and Sullivan’s "H.M.S. Pinafore" will mix with patriotic favorites and a salute to the Armed Forces. The program also features Tchaikovsky’s Polonaise from "Eugene Onegin," Nicolai’s "Merry Wives of Windsor" overture, Strauss’ "Voices of Spring" and more.

Vocalists from Opera New Jersey soprano Channing Connell, mezzo soprano Melissa Kornacki and baritone Jeremy Moore will perform with the orchestra.

The fireworks display will follow the musical performance.

Can't make it for fireworks Friday? Visit Brookdale Park in Bloomfield Monday at 7:30 p.m. for a performance by the popular 1960s group Duprees and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Fireworks will follow the concert. Entrance to the park is at Watchung Avenue or Belleville Avenue in Bloomfield.

Also tonight, Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, 450 Broad St., will be hosting “Fantastic Friday,” an evening of baseball and fireworks.

At 6:35 pm, the Bears square off against their cross-county rivals, the New Jersey Jackals, whose home stadium is at Montclair State University.

Following the game, there will be a “launch a ball” contest with a top prize of $500, “Locker Wars” (based on the popular cable TV show “Storage Wars”), autograph signings and a fireworks show.

Admission is $10. Parking is available off Division or Bridge streets and the stadium is easily accessible by light rail from Penn Station.

– Staff reports