BATH

This city will celebrate Independence Day and its maritime heritage during Bath Heritage Days, which opens its four-day run with a concert and a barbecue on Wednesday night at Library Park.

The 41st annual Bath Heritage Days festival, July 4 -7, has something for everyone, with four days of carnival, Art in the Park, a Made-in-Maine craft show, an antique car show, kids’ crafts, a fireman’s muster, Maine’s largest 4th of July parade, and the Kennebec River Boat Parade. The grand finale — fireworks over the Kennebec River — begin at around 9 p.m. Sunday night.

The Bath Municipal Band will provide musical entertainment and Bath Sunrise Rotary will serve up the barbecue, both from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Bath Heritage Days will feature live music daily on two stages, featuring the best of new and estab- lished Maine performers, and a big pre-fireworks show. Bands from Portland to Belfast and beyond will rock the main stage with concerts every afternoon and evening from July 4-7 on the dock in Waterfront Park. On Saturday and Sunday, a mix of soul, swing, bluegrass and zydeco performers will play all day at the Gazebo stage in City Park by the Patten Free Library.

Local nonprofits will take part with booths at Library Park. Activities will range from a book sale to benefit the Patten Free Library and the Cosmopolitan Club’s Strawberry Shortcake Festival, to a Skate Jam at The Park and a Chili/Chowderfest at the Freight Shed.

Bath Heritage Days festival celebrates the city’s long history as an international shipbuilding port. In keeping with this theme, this year’s parade Grand Marshal unit will be a delegation from Bath’s sistercity,

Tsugaru City, Japan. The parade begins at 11:30 a.m. on July 4.

The sister-city relationship began in 1889, when a Bath ship, the Cheseborough, foundered off the coast of Shariki Village (now Tsugaru City) Japan. The villagers set out in boats to rescue the crew and were able to save four members, who stayed in contact and wrote letters of friendship for many years. Twenty years ago, the relationship was formalized and enjoys an annual exchange program.

More than 50,000 people are expected to visit downtown Bath during Bath Heritage Days in the City of Ships. Main Street Bath and other event organizers invite everyone to meet Bath’s sister-city guests, and learn more about the era of the tall ships in Bath at the Maine Maritime Museum.

Explore Bath’s historic downtown, where tall ships once lined the wharves along the river, and enjoy the diverse shops and 19th century architecture of pedestrianfriendly Front and Centre streets. It’s a great setting for a great party.

The festival will once again designate Library Park as a “tobacco free” area, expanding the initiative to include Waterfront Park. Both parks will be posted with signs asking festival-goers to refrain from smoking cigarettes within the park grounds. This healthy community effort is being organized in collaboration with Healthy Maine Partnerships and sponsored by Mid Coast Hospital.

A full schedule of events can be found online at bathheritagedays.com.

¦ A FULL schedule of events can be found online at bathheritagedays.com.

lgrard@timesrecord.com