Follow the light thud of a bass drum and the trill of a trumpet and you can fall in step with the annual Fourth of July parade in Edgartown. For outgoing parade grand marshal Fred B. (Ted) Morgan Jr., a marching band is the heartbeat of any parade.

“Without a band we’re lost,” Mr. Morgan said.

Before the rollicking promenade of floats and the bursting of fireworks across Edgartown Harbor, Vineyard Haven will be ringing in the Fourth in a gentler fashion.

At 2 p.m. tomorrow, folks up and down Main Street will ring hand bells, cowbells, tea bells, sleigh bells or whatever bell is handy to celebrate Independence Day. The gesture represents an attempt to resurrect a tradition begun in accordance with the U.S. Senate Concurrent Resolution 25 passed by Congress in June 1963.

Visitors are filling Island beaches, men on ladders are cleaning street lanterns along Main street Edgartown and an endless line of cars waits behind the stop sign at the Triangle — all indicators that it’s July Fourth week. Tomorrow is the national holiday. This will be Edgartown’s 43rd consecutive year hosting its annual Independence Day parade. A crowd of thousands of Islanders and visitors will line Main street to witness another year’s string of marchers and floats.

In the midst of a nationally-watched, closely-contested U.S. senate race, Elizabeth Warren came to the Vineyard this weekend with a message: there are two visions of America on the table for November’s election, she said, and stakes are high.