If you’re the type who prefers to stay on the right side of the law, then you better leave your artillery shells in the crate to avoid trouble with Johnny Law. There are plenty of public fireworks to honor Old Glory this evening. And best of all, you don’t have to burn your own dough for the show. There’s the award-winning WaMu Family 4th at Gas Works Park, where the explosions over Lake Union are synchronized to music. (Meanwhile, a Chinook helicopter flies overhead with a giant flag, in case you’ve forgotten what we’re celebrating.) Or head down to the Elliott Bay waterfront for the Fourth of Jul-Ivar’s 44th-annual fireworks display. (Myrtle Edwards Park and various piers, most of them mandated open to the public, offer prime viewing spots.) For Eastsiders who don’t want to brave dreadful bridge traffic and Seattle parking hassles, there are the Bellevue Family 4th and Celebrate Kirkland for that patriotic snap, crackle, and pop. www.wamufamily4th.org, www.celebratekirkland.org, www.ivars.net, www.bellevuewa.gov. Free. Fireworks start around 10 p.m. JOSHUA LYNCH

Fri., July 4, 10 p.m., 2008