Dover Days are here again. The 92nd anniversary of the capital city celebration and parade starts May 2, with music, food vendors, and fireworks on Legislative Mall beginning at 6 p.m. The festivities continue May 3, with the largest parade in the state stepping off at 9 a.m. and activities until 3 p.m.
“It’s got a combination of historical [and] family-type events. So I think there’s a different draw for different people,” says Ron Barisano, the festival’s event and sponsor coordinator.
The citizen-run Dover Days Celebration Committee, which took over the event from Kent County Tourism in 2023, moved most of the vendors and activities to The Green. This year, things will go back to basics. “All of the vendors that were on State Street will be around Legislative Mall, which is the way it used to be,” Barisano says.
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In another blast from the past, the parade will take place entirely on State Street, gathering at Hazel Road, going across Loockerman Street, and then marching in front of the reviewing stage on The Green before dispersing at Water Street. Historical reenactors and children dancing at the traditional maypole will remain on The Green, starting at 11:30 a.m.
More than 100 craft, food, commercial, and nonprofit vendors will be on Legislative Mall, as well as a tethered hot-air balloon, bounce house, 100th-anniversary display from the Dover Police Department, car and truck show, giant sandcastle, games, and more. The city’s colonial history will be on display, as well as a Dover-area World War II heroes exhibit. In addition, Lenape and Nanticoke tribes will show off their culture. Ampersand, interpreting music from folk and American traditions on modern instruments, will perform.
It’s always a balancing act combining the historical aspect of the long-running festival with general activities, Barisano says. “I do walk a fine line. There are some [people who] are very happy that the parade is coming all the way down [State Street], the way it used to be. At the same time, it’s in the back of my head that if we don’t have the hot-air balloon, if we don’t have the bounce house, and if we don’t have [balloon animals] for the kids, that we’re not going to get the families. So we put it all together,” he says.
For more information, visit facebook.com/doverdaysfestivalDE.
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