In Chicago, better to call it 'Independence Day' than 'Fourth of July'; the city follows its own idiosyncratic schedule and traditionally holds its big fireworks display on the third. This is supposedly to allow patriotic revelers from the suburbs to stay downtown late, secure in the knowledge that they won't have to work the next day. But it might just as well be attributable to the Chicago's penchant for bucking the trend--we'll celebrate on the third, and no ketchup on that hot dog, thank you. 

The weekend of free holiday festivities officially kicks off on Friday, when the 85th Army Band strikes up in the Petrillo Music Shell (Columbus and Jackson) at 7:30 PM. Stragglers from the nearby Taste of Chicago festival will have time to claim their spots before the fireworks begin at 9 PM. Space on the prime viewing spots may be hard to come by, if a recent edict prohibiting claim staking before 10:45 AM is any indication--but the fireworks are launched from a barge off Montrose Harbor, and should be visible anywhere along city's lakefront.

Saturday provides a handy downtown do-over for those who missed Friday's celebration, thanks to an unprecedented switch by the Grant Park Orchestra, which will hold its Independence Day concert on Independence Day for the first time ever (it normally precedes the fireworks on the third). The concert, in Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion, starts at 1:30 PM and lasts for an hour.  At 9 PM, Navy Pier's Fourth of July Fireworks, an expanded version of the Pier's usual Wednesday and Friday summer fireworks, will light up the lakefront.

For the less family-oriented, a few bars will be hosting patriotic-themed events that have free drinks with RSVP: Enclave (220 W. Chicago) on Thursday, and Avila (203 W. Superior) on Saturday.  

The Grant Park Chorus performs for free this Thursday at 6:30 PM in Millennium Park's Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph). The program is comprised of 20th-century American pieces, including Paul Crabtree’s Five Romantic Miniatures, based on lines of dialogue from The Simpsons. Christopher Bell conducts.

Update: The program draws a rave from Lawrence Johnson of Chicago Classical Review.

Malian singer Oumou Sangare promotes her new album, Seya, with a free concert this Thursday in the Pritzker Pavilion at 8 PM. Reader critic Peter Margasak notes:

". . . despite dashes of Western pop flavor—electric bass and guitar, Hammond organ, plush horn and string sections—the songs retain a deep connection to Malian music in both their core instrumentation and their basic structures. Sangare is from Bamako, at the edge of the Wassoulou region of Mali, where the dominant form of music evolved from traditional hunter’s songs; the style has long been dominated by women, a rarity in Africa, and the content of its lyrics has changed to address contemporary social problems. . . . The seven-piece band she brings here is led by 'Benogo' Brehima Diakite, a virtuoso on the kamele n’goni (literally 'lute-harp for young people') who’s been Sangare’s musical foil for nearly 20 years."

Tonight's installment of RUI: Reading Under the Influence, the Reader's 2009 pick for best reading series, is focused on the theme of Abraham Lincoln (!). The featured readers are Patrick Somerville (The Cradle), recipient of the Chicago Public Library Foundation's 21st Century Award; Time Out Chicago books editor Jonathan Messinger; and RUI regulars Rob Duffer and Amy Guth. RUI is usually $3, but it's free tonight thanks to a CPL partnership.

RUI: Reading Under the Influence, 7-9 PM, Sheffield's, 3258 N. Sheffield

As part of a national PR tour, the "Got Milk?" campaign will visit Chicago and give away health screenings with dietitians, samples of low-fat and fat free milk, smoothies, five-minute chair massages, and souvenir milk mustache photos.

The first Chicago event will be at the Thompson Center (100 W. Randolph) Thursday from 11 AM to 2 PM. The second will be at a Chatham Food 4 Less store (112 W. 87th) on Wednesday, 7/8, from 5 to 7 PM.