For the first time, Montgomery County will sponsor simultaneous Independence Day fireworks celebrations, in Germantown and Kensington, on July 4. Typically, the Germantown event had been held a few days in advance of the actual holiday.

“There’s really simple reasoning behind the change,” county spokeswoman Bonnie Ayers said. “The actual day of the Fourth of July should be celebrated on the Fourth of July. So we’re doing that now.”