Robert Fiske and his girlfriend, Meghan Foote, were among the first people to arrive in downtown Concord for the Fourth of July Parade that marked 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“I love American history, all the way back from the Revolutionary War to now,” said Fiske.

Like many other attendees, Fiske was particularly looking forward to seeing the members of Concord’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1631, who would be marching down Main Street.

Mary Ellen House and her granddaughter Anastasia Esman seated themselves right across from the State House Plaza, where the Nevers’ Second Regiment Band would be playing throughout the parade.

“I love the band and the drums,” House said. “We were down on Storrs Street, and we saw a lot of fun things down there.”

Of the many antique vehicles in the procession, including cars, a fire engine, police cruiser and Abbot Downing Concord Coach, one was a first: A plane going down Main Street.

Jennifer Kretovic, city councilor and co-chair of the committee that organized the parade, was particularly proud of that.

“The first airplane to go down Main Street, our committee should be so proud,” she said.

Following the parade, the festivities moved to the State House Lawn, where government officials honored New Hampshire’s rich history and involvement in the American Experiment.

Senator Maggie Hassan called on the words of George Washington when he said that American Independence was “little short of a standing miracle,” and she asked attendees to reflect on the “unlikely nature” of America’s founding and survival through 250 years.

Speeches concluded with a reading of the Declaration of Independence, after which the Lafayette Reenactors in attendance conducted a musket and cannon salute on the lawn.

The evening was capped off by a fireworks display at Memorial Field.

The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Saturday, July 4, 2026 results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from July 4 drawing

17-38-46-50-69, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 4 drawing

Day: 6-5-3

Evening: 8-0-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from July 4 drawing

Day: 9-8-1-3

Evening: 2-9-4-1

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Megabucks Plus numbers from July 4 drawing

06-10-19-22-33, Megaball: 04

Check Megabucks Plus payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 4 drawing

17-20-37-40-43, Bonus: 04

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?

• Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
• Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
• Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
• Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
• Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
• Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
• Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.

250 years in, and America is still a work in progress. Many American poets have written hymns and howls, declarations and outcries for this country that brims with so many people, and so many hopes, from all over the world.

“I Hear America Singing,” Walt Whitman wrote, in the 1850s.

“…the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

…The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else…”

Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” was inscribed on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal in 1903. It’s a poem in praise of immigrants who were cast out from other lands and found safe harbor in America.

“Give me your tired, your poor,” wrote Emma Lazarus.

“… your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

But Langston Hughes’ 1949 poem, “Freedom,” reminds us that many Black American families did not sail to America under the flame of a welcoming lamp, but were captive, shackled, to be sold into bondage. After the Emancipation Proclamation, many still endured segregation, bigotry and the constant threat of racist violence.

“I tire so of hearing people say, let things take their course,” wrote Langston Hughes.

“Tomorrow is another day.

I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.

I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.”

This week, as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship, you might read Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s 2017 poem, “Learning to Love America,” about how immigrants make America their own as they start families here.

“…because to have a son is to have a country,” she writes.

“…because my son will bury me here

because countries are in our blood and we bleed them”

The America great poets see is imperfect, unsettled, and unfinished, even after 250 years. Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote in 1958 these words that still ring out:

“…I am waiting

for a rebirth of wonder

and I am waiting for someone

to really discover America”

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