With so much happening on the Fourth of July, it is easy to miss some of the events taking place before Monday.

One such event, which always takes place a couple days before Independence Day, is the annual Des Moines Symphony’s “Yankee Doodle Pops” concert in front of the state Capitol.

Joseph Giunta will be conducting the concert for the 11th time and is expecting another terrific concert.

“With the long weekend — and if it’s not too hot, and there isn’t rain predicted — this could be another big year for us,” Giunta says.

Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, public affairs officer of the Iowa National Guard, says once again a field artillery unit from the Iowa Army National Guard will be there to shoot off its Howitzer cannons during the “1812 Overture,” which concludes the concert.

He says typically, the unit providing the cannons is the 1st Battalion of the 194th Field Artillery, under the command of Lt. Col. Matt Pitstick.

“It’s huge anywhere you play it,” Giunta says.

“To play this piece with the Howitzers is something.”

Giunta says the concert was his idea after performing at a similar concert when he was a part of the Minnesota Orchestra.

“When I came here in 1989, it was one of my goals to do this,” he says.

“It was because of that event that other cities started doing these massive undertakings.”

Over the past 10 years, Giunta says the concert seems to average somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000 people.

“This has gone far beyond my wildest imaginations,” Giunta says. “I thought we’d average 5,000 to 6,000 people.

“There was one year where everything was perfect, and we thought we had an excess of 100,000 people.”

In addition, WOI Radio will air the concert live.

Even though it is a patriotic concert, Giunta says he always tries to offer some variety rather than playing the same mainstream patriotic songs year after year.

“We try to change some songs,” he says.

Giunta says there will be two special additions to the concert this year including a guest conductor in her 70s and a 15-year-old violinist who won the Symphony Alliance Young Artist Competition.

Giunta said Joanne Strutt, a retired music teacher from McGregor, Iowa, will be guest conducting “American Salute” after her son bought her the opportunity at a fundraiser.

Samantha Bennett, an Ames resident, is the violinist and will be playing a short piece with the symphony, Giunta said.

“We try to make it family-friendly. This is an all-inclusive event we are quite proud of.”

In addition to the Howitzers, fireworks are always shot off at the end, as well. Giunta said the symphony will continue playing during them.

“This is one of the few places where we play the music right along with the fireworks,” he said. “Most places just do fireworks.”