Grounds open at 5 p.m. with musical performances beginning at 8 p.m.

Hosted by Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jimmy Smits, this year's musical lineup includes American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, Huey Lewis and the News, rock legend Jerry Lee Lewis, Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical and vocalist Hayley Wesentra. American soprano Harolyn Blackwell will perform with the National Symphony Orchestra. A special Olympics tribute will feature Gold medal-winning figure skater Scott Hamilton. The country's biggest Independence Day celebration closes with Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," complete with live cannon fire by the U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery. The event will also air on PBS from 8 to 9:30 p.m.

The Smithsonian Metro Station will be closed July 4. Stations nearby include Metro Center, Gallery Place-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, Federal Triangle and L'Enfant Plaza.

Metro's planned hours of operation on the Fourth are from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Unlike previous years, free shuttles will not be offered from the Mall and L'Enfant Plaza to Pentagon parking after the fireworks. Patrons are reminded that parking is free at all Metrorail stations on July 4.