FIREWORKS stand at Chapman and Valley View in West Garden Grove (Orange County Tribune photo).

Happy birthday, America. You’re 241 years old on Tuesday and a few hundred million of your friends will be celebrating your arrival with food, fireworks and fun well into the night.

In the Garden Grove-Huntington Beach-Westminster area there will be a musket-full of pyrotechnics, music and other revelry as the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. 1776 is commemorated.

The big event scheduled for Independence Day is the 113th annual 4th of July Parade in Huntington Beach. Radio personality Tim Conway, Jr. will preside over the procession down Main Street.

The parade is themed “United We Stand,” and will step off at 10 a.m. That evening there will be a fireworks show off the city pier at 9 p.m.

FLAGS will be plentiful at the 113th annual 4th of July Parade on Main Street in Huntington Beach on Tuesday (File photo).

In addition to the parade, which features bands, local and national celebrities and more, there will be a festival in the Pier Plaza July 2-4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Other 4th of July activities will include the Surf City Fun Run, a pancake breakfast at Lake Park from 7 to 10 a.m.

The parade began on July 4, 1904 to commemorate the arrival in the city of the first electric passenger train linking Los Angeles to Long Beach and Huntington Beach (named after rail mogul Henry Huntington).

For more, go to www.hb4thofjuly.org .

In all three of the cities, the sale and use of “safe and sane” fireworks are legal, but police and fire departments are gearing up to combat the use of illegal fireworks and the use of fireworks is restricted on a city-by-city basis.

In Garden Grove, additional police patrols will be identifying violators of the city’s municipal code on fireworks.  Using or possessing illegal fireworks, including misusing or tampering with legal ones, carries a $1,000 administrative fine.

In accordance with Garden Grove Municipal Code firework regulations, discharge of safe and sane fireworks is permissible on private property only. Police patrols will again focus on high-activity illegal fireworks areas including Katella Street, between Euclid and Brookhurst; Dino Circle; Garden Grove Park; and the Buena-Clinton neighborhood.

All city parks will close by 5 p.m. on July 4.  Park tennis courts, basketball courts, and softball fields will also be locked by 5 p.m.  Park sprinkler systems will be activated at 6 p.m.

In Huntington Beach, the discharge of fireworks is only legal from 12-10 p.m. on July 4. The fine for violation of this rule is $500. Such fireworks use is not permitted on public property, including parks and beaches.

In Westminster, fireworks may be discharged only on July 4 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The penalty for the use of illegal fireworks is a fine of up to $1000 and/or a year in jail.