This week in downtown Bath, flags are flying from the lampposts while red, white and blue bunting festoons City Hall and the storefronts along the street in celebration of Independence Day.

With the historic buildings and tree-lined sidewalks, it could almost be a scene by Norman Rockwell, as this week the city enjoys a large slice of Americana during its celebration of Bath Heritage Days.

The festival kicked off with a chicken barbecue in City Park and music in the gazebo by the Bath Municipal Swing Band. The 4th of July Parade honored local veterans and celebrated Bath’s shipbuilding heritage with homegrown floats. The Parade Grand Marshal unit is made up of guests from Bath’s sister-city in Japan, a relationship forged by Bath sailors in 1889.

On Saturday, teams will compete in a Firemens’ Muster to see who can pump water the farthest using antique hand-tubs and what was once a life-saving skill. On Sunday, antique cars will line the street during the Front Street Shuffle.

At the waterfront, a large Ferris wheel under the bridge anchors the carnival along the waterfront, where teenagers will stand in groups and the little kids run to get in line for one more ride on the bumper cars and the giant slide.

During the weekend, “Art in the Park” and a Made-in- Maine Craft Show will fill City Park by the Patten Free Library with work by local artists and artisans.

The festival finale will be fire-works over the Kennebec River on Sunday night.

Traditions.

Entertainment will be timehonored as well, although adapted to suit current tastes.

The Waterfront Park stage, with the Kennebec River as a backdrop, and the gazebo at City Park will both have live music throughout the four days of the festival.

The musicians include many favorite local performers, and bands from Belfast to the Bronx, but all with roots in Maine.

Independence Day celebrations, parades and fireworks will take place throughout the country this week, but for me, celebrating the holiday on the beautiful coast of Maine in Bath’s historic waterfront downtown has a glamour that I don’t remember from my suburban hometown in Connecticut. And after living in Maine for many years, I find added pleasure in performing the ritual acts of summer just as they have been practiced in the same place by generations before me.

Maine culture is rich and varied, and each town has its own distinct identity. The annual Heritage Days festival is reflective of Bath’s personality, which embraces the city’s history and traditions, keeping them polished and current for future generations.

The festival events express many of the things that Bath identifies with as a community: a history of craftsmanship forged through shipbuilding; a legacy of significant architecture and commitment to stewardship of that legacy; and a strong cooperative spirit.

The last is very evident during Heritage Days, not only in the many nonprofit booths and parade entries, but also in the many businesses and community members who sponsor the festival and help put on the party for Bath.

Also part of Bath’s heritage is a history of innovation and striving to improve, exemplified in the Bath Iron Works mantra, “Bath built is best built.”

In this spirit, some festival events are tweaked each year. Along with the traditional pre-fireworks concert by the Bath Municipal Band, in recent years a pre-fireworks show and dance party on the Waterfront Dock has been added to the Bath Heritage Days schedule. This year, the boat parade is moving to Sunday afternoon, so participants can stay afterward and watch the fireworks from the river.

We’ll keep looking for ways to improve without losing the things we all love about the holiday.

Bath Heritage Days … it’s as American as apple pie. Or let’s make that whoopie pies, shell peas and strawberries, salmon and hotdogs, fried dough and … Thai food?

JENNIFER GEIGER is executive director of Main Street Bath.