By Nancy Reardon
MethuenLife Writer

As Bay Staters know, the Boston Pops are a Fourth of July staple. Well here in Methuen, we celebrate Independence Day a few days later and our party includes lollipops! It’s all good, as this year’s event drew an estimated 10,000 people to The Loop. Here, Simon Biagiotti, 7, and his sister Alice, 4, stopped by the Nevins Library table and were happy to get some glow sticks and candy from library staffers Elizabeth Borges, Bev Winn and Amy Dorsheimer. More photos inside. MethuenLife photos by Nancy Reardon

An estimated 10,000 people attended the festivities and fireworks at The Loop, celebrating Independence Day four days after the nation’s official birthday.
With so many communities booking pyrotechnic businesses close to July 4, securing a company can be challenging. Methuen has had a great turnout while celebrating a few days later, and this year was no exception!
Methuen’s own Bella Perrotta kicked off the afternoon singing and playing guitar as she opened for The B Street Bombers, who had folks young and old singing along and dancing. SKI and the 99’ers joined them for a song.
Several community programs also had booths where folks passed out candy and other goodies. American Entertainment offered a 360 Video Booth as well as several game booths. Methuen police and fire departments were there entertaining children, letting them climb on a firetruck or into a police cruiser.
Mayor Neil Perry and his staff passed out bags of candy and chatted with people who visited his booth.
The night ended with a wonderful fireworks display that had the crowd oohh-ing and ahh-ing.
Bill Manzi, from the Recreation Department told MethuenLife, “We had 10 different vendors selling food as well as face painting, games and characters. It was a tremendous event all around for the community.”