Heritage Festival – September 2022
Families, friends, and neighbors descend upon our little town the fourth weekend in September, just as they have done for the last 37 years to attend the Town’s signature event, Heritage Festival.
Heritage Festival is exactly what you think about for a small-town event – it’s a celebration of a shared past, a celebration of our community at the present, and a celebration of our children. Just about everyone who lives here is involved in this festival as some kind of participant – whether a shop owner, a vendor, a volunteer, a parent of a child in the parade, a participant with a community group – this festival is synonymous with the spirit of Middletown. The morning starts off with the best parade ever – local leaders wave from our treasured historic band wagon, volunteer groups and businesses design and decorate floats, politicians smile from gleaming cars, tractors chug by, dogs, horses, dancers, cheerleaders, twirlers, the marching band, and more traipse down Main Street, with a rain of candy being tossed to folks who line the sides of the road to watch this large, local parade. It is incredibly diverse, fun, and a little chaotic!
Afterward the parade people visit with each other: often you’ll notice small clusters of people chatting together in the middle of the closed down street. Laughter is sometimes louder than the music streaming live by various bands. The variety of vendors and their wares draws people to shop, learn, and sample new items. History is everywhere – just glance at the beautiful architecture that graces our Main Street, illustrating over 200-years of history, reenactors walk up and down Main Street sharing their particular period of time and stopping for selfies with families. You might even see a pie eating contest or a jump rope troop doing a show. Of course, there’s the eating – the heavenly smells of kettle corn, the delectable taste of home-made apple butter, flavorful barbeque, and sweet ice cream.
Who could ask for more?
Year after year, we get excited for Heritage Festival because many have just done this all their lives. It is as natural as the first day of Fall.
But we also get excited because deep down it feels nostalgic to step back in time and enjoy a parade like Middletowners have done for at least 100-years; visit with your neighbors without being concerned about all the other pressures that makes it seems as if there is not enough time; indulge in that ice cream cone like you did as a child.
These experiences are good for the soul!
We invite you to experience the charm of Main Street Middletown on September 24, 2022 from 10am to 5pm and enjoy the many delights of Middletown’s Heritage Festival.