Photos:: Celebrating the Fourth of July

Fireworks explode over the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion as spectators take in the scene from the Grand Park Fourth of July block party in downtown Los Angeles.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Thousands of people attended a block party in Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Independence Day revelers roast marshmallows and gather around a makeshift fire pit in the sand before watching fireworks launched from the Huntington Beach pier.   (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Sisters Cherokee, 7, and Maya Lynne Spears, 4, cool off at a misting station in Grand Park, Los Angeles.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Thousands of people listen to Phantogram in Grand Park, Los Angeles.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Dancers enjoy the party in Grand Park, Los Angeles.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Old cars roll along Main Street as part of the 110th Annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

Parade performers wave as they walk down Pacific Coast Highway during the 110th Annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade on Friday.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

Children watch as floats move along Main Street during the 110th annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade on Friday.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

Shawna Herchert, 16, performs as a color guard on Pacific Coast Highway during the 110th annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade on Friday.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

People watch as parade floats and cars roll along Pacific Coast Highway during the 110th annual Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade on Friday.  (Jabin Botsford / Los Angeles Times)

John David Dowdle holds 23-month-old Blakely Dowdle as she laughs while being sprayed with water by the Germantown Fire Department during the Poplar Estates Fourth of July parade in Germantown, Tenn.  (Yalonda M. James / Associated Press / The Commercial Appeal)

Alyssa Garza participates in the Fourth of July parade Friday in Oak Ridge, Texas.   (Jason Fochtman / Associated Press / The Courier)

People wave flags as the Independence Day parade rolls down Main Street on Friday in Eagar, Ariz.  (Matt York / Associated Press)

Participants in the South Walton County Fourth of July parade wave flags in Seaside, Fla.  (Devon Ravine / AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily)

People participate in an Independence Day parade in Avondale Estates, Ga.  (Erik S. Lesser / EPA)

People participate in an Independence Day parade in Avondale Estates, Ga.  (Erik S. Lesser / EPA)

Brandi Boyer, 4, and Bella Boyer, 1, of Port Carbon, Pa., test drive their vehicle in a parking lot before the start of the annual Fourth of July Parade nicknamed the “Baby Parade” in Port Carbon.  (Jacqueline Dormer / AP Photo/Republican-Herald)

People participate in the annual Golf Cart Parade at Meadow Lake Senior Living Community in Tyler, Texas.  (Sarah A. Miller / AP Photo/The Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Children participate in the annual Fourth of July Parade nicknamed the “Baby Parade” in Port Carbon, Pa.  (Jacqueline Dormer / AP Photo/Republican-Herald)

Stilt walker Dave Hodgens participates in the Fourth of July parade in Mebane, N.C.  (Scott Muthersbaugh / AP Photo/The Times-News)

Leah Murphy, 1, holds a small American flag during the 18th annual Knollwood Fourth of July parade in Tyler, Texas.  (Sarah A. Miller / AP Photo/The Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Vice President Joe Biden waves as he marches in front of Independence Hall during the Independence Day parade in Philadelphia.   (Matt Rourke / Associated Press)

Snow White, pet of Melanie Devers of Port Carbon, Pa., watches during the annual Fourth of July Parade in Port Carbon.  (Jacqueline Dormer / AP Photo/Republican-Herald)