Wave those flags, people - it's the Fourth of July.

Independence Day festivities ratchet up for the weekend, with parades aplenty around the area. Marching bands and floats and fire trucks and more will be part of the procession in Groton, and Old Lyme's Sound View and the town of Lyme will host their own holiday parades, too. Stonington does its traditional parade, culminating with the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

If you want to hear some patriotic music, well, there's no better group to hear play it than the Coast Guard Band. The group's free concert on Sunday afternoon will showcase performances of marches, traditional songs - and a rock 'n' roll tribute.

East Lyme is the place for the Juried Arts and Craft Show (the 54th one, thank you very much) and the LobsterFest (the 36th one, sponsored by the Niantic Lions Club and also featuring chicken BBQ for non-lobster fans).

- KRISTINA DORSEY

FRIDAY, JULY 4

Lyme 4th of July Parade, Picnic and Concert - parade convenes at 10 a.m., leaves from Camp Claire on Cove Road; ends at the Grange on Route 156, where Lyme Parks and Recreation will provide food and activities, and Two for The Show will perform.

Stonington July 4th Parade - 10 a.m., starts and ends at Stonington Free Library at Water and High streets; followed at 11:30 a.m. by organist Joseph Ripka presenting "Stars, Stripes, and Pipes: American Music for the Glorious Fourth" at Calvary Episcopal Church, 33 Church St.

Groton Fourth of July Parade - 10 a.m., Route 1

Revolutionary Tour at Leffingwell House Museum - 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 348 Washington St. Norwich; $5.

July 4 fireworks festival - 6 to 10 p.m., Howard T. Brown Memorial Park and Marina at American Wharf, Norwich; food, novelty vendors, children's activities, fireworks after dark; also, rooftop barbecue and fireworks viewing, 6 to 11 p.m., Market Street garage, admission $100 for table of 5, $10 for standing tickets in advance, $20 at the door.

SATURDAY, JULY 5

LobsterFest and Chicken BBQ, and Arts & Crafts Show in East Lyme - 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., East Lyme Town Hall grounds on Pennsylvania Ave., Niantic; also Sun.

Sound View's Independence Day Parade - 10 a.m., from Hartford Avenue at Sound View in Old Lyme.

SUNDAY, JULY 6

LobsterFest and Arts & Crafts Show in East Lyme - 10 a.m.-4 p.m., East Lyme Town Hall grounds on Pennsylvania Ave., Niantic

Coast Guard Band concert - 2 p.m., Leamy Concert Hall, Coast Guard Academy, Mohegan Avenue, New London; free; (860) 701-6826.