The City of Longview will host the 2024 Fireworks and Freedom Celebration on Thursday, July 4, featuring an outdoor, free-to-the-public concert by soul-blues rocker Tommy Castro & the Painkillers. Texas natives Taylor Branch & the Lone Star Ramblers will open the concert. Each year, thousands gather at  Longview Convention Complex, 100 Grand Blvd., for the free concert, fireworks, and other activities including a car show, petting zoo, cornhole tournament, hot dog eating contest, trivia contest, princess meet-and-greet, and more.

Tommy Castro formed the first Tommy Castro Band in 1992 and has not stopped touring since. Since his solo debut in 1994, he’s made 16 albums, each with a unique sound ranging from horn-fueled R&B to blues to rock n’ roll. At the 2023 Blues Music Awards, Tommy Castro was awarded the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year for the second year in a row, while his band won Band of the Year, and his most recent album, “A Bluesman Comes to Town” took home Album of the Year honors.

Touring out of the central Texas town of Gatesville, Taylor Branch and The Lone Star Ramblers take raw country, mix it with hard-edged Southern Rock, and turn up the heat with their unmatched, high-energy live shows, resulting in their own unique blend of Texas Country Rock and Roll.

Event activities begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, concert starts at 6:30 p.m., and the fireworks show starts at 9:30 p.m.