money Swipe right: Dover Days turns 90, but it's still cute & young at heart
One of Delaware's biggest and longest-running festivals is planning a comeback this weekend after a string of bad luck has kept it sidelined since 2019.
Organizers hope Friday and Saturday will finally see the return of the darling Dover Days Festival, which is turning 90.
The rain-or-shine event will be held downtown around The Green, Federal Street, State Street, Loockerman Street, Legislative Avenue and Water Street.
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What’s Dover Days?
The festival is a two-day celebration of Delaware's history and legacy, with Colonial vibes.
The event features a parade (with Gov. John Carney serving as grand marshal), balloon ride, Maypole dancing, historic reenactments, artisans, games and food vendors.
Carnival-style games will also be on tap.
Friday ends with a bang with fireworks at dusk, serving as symbolic birthday candles for the event's 90th anniversary.
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When is the parade?
The parade begins Saturday at 9:15 a.m. The route travels west on Loockerman Street from Park Drive.
How many people attend Dover Days?
Dover Days draws thousands of attendees annually. The festival attracted roughly 20,000 visitors in 2017.
Part of that uptick was probably because that year also marked the city of Dover's 300th anniversary, said Rachael Rohm, co-vice president of the Dover Days Committee.
Since this is the festival's return year, Rohm would be happy to see 5,000 people, she said.
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Why hasn't Dover Days happened since 2019?
Like a bunch of festivals in 2020 and 2021, Dover Days was put on ice those years because of COVID-19.
Although the festival is touted as a "rain-or-shine" event, organizers pulled the plug on last year's event due to the threat of a storm that was expected to bring strong wind gusts, the co-vice president said.
But Rohm said she’s optimistic the festival will get back on track this year, and the outlook is bright.
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This weekend’s weather forecast is slated to be partly cloudy Friday and Saturday. There's a 24% chance of rain on Friday, followed by 8% on Saturday, according to Weather.com.
The details
Dover Days Festival (411 Legislative Ave., Dover) will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 5, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Free to attend. For more info, see visitdelawarevillages.com or (302) 734-4888.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dover Days Festival turns 90. It'll show off its Colonial drip
