The centerpiece of the Fourth of July weekend festivities is, of course, the Edgartown parade, where floats of all sights and sizes strut their stuff throughout Edgartown on July 4.

The pre-gathering takes place at the Edgartown School, a few hours before go time. (The parade proper begins at 5 p.m.)

The motorcade does marvel and yet the sight of so much red, white and blue plumage at rest in the school parking lot has its own delights. The rollicking good time found at Camp Jabberwocky nestles next to a band of Little Leaguers, along with dancers from Rise and The Yard. Sharky the friendly shark, shaking fins with passersby, mixes it up with police, firefighters and EMTs parked in cars old and new.

A wander among the floats is to feel both at home in this Island community while also experiencing a sense of vertigo at the timelessness of it all. After the milling and marching, the candies and paper hat tossing, the cheers from the sidelines, the smell of grilling meats fills the air. Follow the scent down on the Edgartown harbor, where the fireworks will be set off around 9 p.m.

But Edgartown is not the sole proprietor of pomp and parades. Aquinnah hosts its annual parade and community picnic up at the circle beginning at 11 a.m. It’s DIY at its most basic, with everyone encouraged to dress up whatever vehicle they imagine is float worthy — car, wheelbarrow or pony come to mind.

Oak Bluffs also embraces the holiday in miniature, with a children’s parade at the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, beginning at 9:45 a.m., where bikes, scooters and strollers take center stage.

Amidst all the hoopla about freedom, another history lesson is recommended: readings of Frederick Douglass’s What, to the Slave, Is the Fourth of July? The first reading took place on July 3 at the Edgartown Federated Church. Another reading will be held on July 4 at Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs, hosted by the Renaissance House, beginning at 11 a.m.