Liberty Mutual renews Fourth of July sponsorship

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Liberty Mutual Group, the Boston insurance company, said today it is renewing its sponsorship of the Boston Pops Fourth of July Concert on the Esplanade for another three years.

The sponsorship renewal agreement with Boston 4 Productions, the company that produces the event, totals $7 million and covers Fourth of July Concerts from 2010 through 2012, said the company, which added that 2012 also happens to Liberty Mutual's 100th anniversary.

Liberty Mutual began sponsoring the event in 2005; its initial five-year sponsorship ends after this year's concert, a company spokesman said.

"This event has helped define our great city for decades while becoming one of the nation's biggest Independence Day parties," Edmund F. Kelly, Liberty Mutual Group chairman, president, and chief executive, said in a statement. "I can't think of a better way to celebrate America's birthday, whether you join us at the Esplanade, or enjoy the festivities on television."

This year's concert will feature Pops conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, joined by Grammy Award winner Neil Diamond, whose hits include Red Sox fan favorite, "Sweet Caroline."

A Globe story from 2004 noted that Liberty Mutual stepped in bail out Boston's Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade after there was a possibility the event could be scrubbed because of insufficient funding.

Liberty Mutual's decision ended a search for a new sponsor by David Mugar, the local philanthropist who founded the celebration with Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler in 1974. Fidelity Investments was a previous sponsor. For many years, Mugar paid for the show himself, the Globe story noted. But production costs had increased so much that he said he could no longer afford the expense.

As for tomorrow's Fourth of July celebration, its emcee is Craig Ferguson of the CBS "Late, Late Show," and the celebration is scheduled to air locally on WBZ-TV from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., followed by a national CBS broadcast from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Liberty Mutual said in its press release.

"For those watching the celebration from home, Liberty Mutual will bring the event's 21-minute fireworks grand finale commercial-free to millions of viewers across the nation," the release added.