Photo gallery: Dover Days Festival presses on through wet weather
DOVER – The weather might have been less than ideal, but that did not stop many visitors who attended the 91 st annual Dover Days Festival from taking a journey back to the city’s …
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Photo gallery: Dover Days Festival presses on through wet weather
By Mike FinneyDOVER – The weather might have been less than ideal, but that did not stop many visitors who attended the 91st annual Dover Days Festival from taking a journey back to the city’s colonial roots on a rainy, wet Saturday.
A parade with an election-year feel with several politicians in the mix got things started with a march down State Street to Loockerman Street.
The parade also featured fire trucks, a kids’ dancing group, fancy cars – and even a float featuring a portable toilet – finishing up with a fancy horse-drawn funeral carriage.
From there to The Green, it was a journey through just about every kind of food that anybody could want, several booths featuring local businesses, and a trip back through time with Maypole dancers, historical re-enactors, pirates and a juggler.
While the elements arrived once again, Dover Days won this time around.
The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic and called off in 2022 because of monsoon-like conditions before finally returning last May.
New this year, historical reenactors, led by local historian Tom Welch, marched in the parade and presented a 1 p.m. program on stage on The Green.
“I think the more we can make Dover Days like a mini-Williamsburg, I think that’s really the genesis of what Dover Days is,” said Chris Cooper, president of the Dover Days Festival.
“It’s all about the history. It’s all about the past and celebrating it. So, when Tom Welch explained this to us, we were super excited about it,” Mr. Cooper said.
The gathering also featured around 150 vendors on State Street with activities for children and families, like inflatable bounce houses; sandcastle building; balloon animal makers; street performers with juggling, balance and antics; water gun games; and trackless train rides.
The tethered hot-air balloon rides were canceled.
Other than that, a little rain or not, history in Dover pressed on.
Following is a photo gallery of some of the activities that took place downtown on Saturday.
Staff writer Mike Finney can be reached at 302-741-8230 or mfinney@iniusa.org.
Follow @MikeFinneyDSN on X.
