The Fourth of July holiday signifies many things.

It is of course Independence Day and thus arguably the United States' most important holiday. But beyond that, July Fourth has come to symbolize the dog days of summer, a traditional big holiday weekend, elaborate fireworks displays, patriotic music — and for several years, it's the day actor Will Smith has generated hundreds of millions more dollars with whatever massive blockbuster film has his name above the title.

Locally, the Fourth of July still means all of those things, but it also has come to mean downtown Akron's newest permutation on the annual rib festival that has happened in some form since 1976. The event, this year dubbed the Rib, White and Blue Festival, hopes to continue and build upon the city's rib and Independence Day celebrations by featuring all of the above (minus Will Smith) plus a plethora of family friendly music and entertainment.

Last year's July Fourth event drew more than 30,000 people to downtown. To help keep the event one of the city's strongest, officials moved the popular Old School Soul concert out of the holiday weekend and have helped the visiting rib vendors by prohibiting outside food. Outside food is allowed at the Old School Soul food event.

''We want people to be able to enjoy what the vendors are offering and we've asked [vendors] to have some economically friendly pricing,'' Akron Deputy Mayor Dave
Lieberth said. ''[The event] is calculated for families to come downtown, go in and enjoy it together and not have to spend a fortune. We looked around the country and looked at pricing and [the festival] remains one of the best bargains around the country.''

To that end, Lieberth said, the festival is calculated to maximize family participation. Kids less than 48 inches tall are free and all of tonight's activities are free, too. On Friday and Saturday, the entry fee is $5, but is free before 1 p.m.

Lieberth added that the event has come a long way from its early days in the 1970s through the '90s, when the fest garnered an unfavorable reputation.

''It had a reputation that it was not a place to bring kids so in 2002 — the last of the ''ribfest'' — we made a decision to really make it so you could bring your kids and feel comfortable. We changed it in 2003 to the Akron Family Barbecue and in the ensuing five years it really grew from an event that attracted 15,000 people to 30,000.''

Now that the event's reputation has been salvaged, the city hopes to expand with the newly rebranded event.

The holiday falls on a Friday this year, making it a true Fourth of July weekend. This year's festival and rib competition will take advantage of that once-every-seven-years event with a full three-day weekend's worth of family friendly, though not necessarily heart-smart, activities.

On South Main Street, rib lovers will have an opportunity to eat themselves into a meat coma as eight award-winning barbecue masters from around Ohio, Texas and both Carolinas gather to share their wares and vie for the honored title ''best in show.''

''They really like those trophies,'' Lieberth said.

In addition to the grill masters lining the street, there will be many other food vendors offering everything from catfish and roasted corn on the cob to dessert treats. And if folks are still ambulatory after eating, there will be music in Lock 3 Park to help shake off the calories.

Today, Lock 3 Park opens at 11 a.m. and the music begins at 6 p.m. with classic rock radio station WONE (97.5-FM)'s weekly tribute band series Rock the Lock. Opening will be Cleveland's Cats on Holiday, a self-described ''hard rockin', swamp poppin' '' rootsy Americana bar band. Cats recently released its fourth CD, Workin' Man, and plays originals and a wide variety of cover tunes in its elegantly simple Southern back-porch style.

The evening will be headlined by Ohio: A Tribute to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

On Friday, gates open at noon and the music begins at 3 p.m. with the Zydeco Kings. At 4:30 p.m., popular area band, Mo' Mojo Mama, whose mix of Zydeco music and instrumentation, including fiddle, washboard and accordion and jam band grooves, always gets a crowd moving.

At 7:30 p.m. the good-time grooves continue with New Orleans' own Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Ostensibly, the horn-dominated octet is a keeper of the traditional New Orleans brass band sound, but in its 30 years the group has embraced other genres. This has brought it considerable attention and a varied discography and tour history that includes recording and/or touring with artists including Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Widespread Panic, Dizzy Gillespie and fellow New Orleanians Dr. John and Branford Marsalis.

The band's most recent album is a reinterpretation of Marvin Gaye's classic What's Goin' On, featuring the band's rearranged take on that album's songs, with help from Chuck D, soul singer Bettye LaVette and G. Love.

The evening will culminate at 9:45 p.m. with the traditional massive fireworks display synchronized to music provided by WKDD (98.1-FM).

On Saturday, the entertainment continues at 3 p.m. with instrumental jazz-fusion group Rare Blend. Next at 6 p.m. is Horns and Things followed by headliner Kevin Eubanks. Eubanks is probably known best as Jay Leno's foil on The Tonight Show, but before he was laughing at and sometimes being the butt of Leno's jokes, Eubanks was a respected jazz guitarist who got his start playing with jazz legends such as Roy Haynes, Art Blakey and Dave Holland. His most recent album released in 2006 was African-themed Soweto Sun on his own InSoul Records.

For the city, the new Rib, White and Blue Festival is a chance to continue to spread the word about downtown Akron as a family friendly, activity-rich destination and not just a place for folks to spend money.

''Anyone can get a crowd downtown, all you have to do is sell cheap beer to 21-year-olds,'' Lieberth said. ''But if you want quality people, people who pay their taxes and live and work in the area . . . events like these allow people to see what their tax dollars are buying. Events like these are among the advantages of living here. [People] bring their family and take advantage of these events and enjoy the services of the city.''