Join the Revolution Memorial Day Weekend
The Chestertown Tea Party Festival invites everyone to Join the Revolution this Memorial Day Weekend in celebrating the “Chester Town Resolves” and tossing British tea overboard.
The Party in Wilmer Park kicks off the festival on Friday, May 23, 5 PM to 9 PM. Enjoy live music with the Chesapeake Sons band, with a beer booth and a variety of food trucks.
Saturday’s festivities begin at 10 AM, with the popular Colonial Parade, complete with fife and drum groups and marching bands. Everyone is encouraged to wear colonial garb. The town will be filled with more than 75 artisan vendors, and plenty of local food options – from crab cakes to funnel cakes, oysters, shrimp, ribs, fresh strawberry shortcake and cold beer.
The Tea Party Reenactment begins at 2 pm at the Main Stage with the reading of the “Chester Town Resolves”
Prior to the Resolves, there is plenty to entertain throughout the town. Main Stage performances include the premier country-bluegrass ensemble US Navy Country Currents, the Garnet Elementary School Tiger Chorus , and Generations Banding Together. Rousing sea shanties with the Jolly Tars and Spiced Punch’s colonial and bawdy saloon music are scheduled at the waterfront stage at the Foot of High Street.
The Garfield Center for the Arts hosts three shows: a Sumner Hall multi-media production “Freedom For All?” describing the lives of Black Revolutionary War heroes, a portrayal of James Forten, Black Businessman and Abolitionist from Philadelphia, and the virtuoso musician Stephen Christoff
Free children’s activities, located at the Heritage Village on the Courthouse lawn include puppet shows, craft activity, a participatory jug band, and face painting.
The Heritage Village also features a variety of artisans and crafters, including colonial rope making, basket weaving, ice cream making, grocers, sutlery, woodworking, and wallpaper band boxes.
Join Algonkian Living Historian Drew Shuptar- Rayvis a citizen and cultural ambassador of the Pocomoke Indian Nation.Learn about the contributions, struggles and sacrifices made by algonkian peoples during the War of American Independence.Heritage Village 11:30 AM
and 1:00 PM
Don’t miss the military encampment set up along the shore of the Chester River, filled with tents and re-enactors. Periodically a brigade or battalion will march up from the water to the courthouse and perform maneuvers prior to the Reenactment at 2pm.
Explore the rich history of Chestertown with two free walking tours. The Chesapeake Heartland offers a one hour African American History tour at 11 AM. Colonial History tours start at 11 AM, Noon, 1 PM and 2 PM beginning at the Info Booth on the Corner of Cross and High Streets.
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The festival reopens at noon on Sunday, May 26 in Wilmer Park with the Tea Party Beer Fest featuring the Dan Hass Band, craft vendors, an Aesop’s Fables puppet show, and a children’s participatory jug band.The ever popular Raft Race begins at 2:30 but best to get there early for a good view.
Join the Revolution this Memorial Day Weekend!
For more information and a full schedule of events and times please visit https://www.chestertownteaparty.org/. Special thanks to our top 2025 sponsors including Watershed Alley, Hogans Agency, Duke Law, LLC, Leaf Filter, Cross Street Realtors, Gillespie & Son Inc, Holman Building, Rosin Creek Collaborative, The People’s Bank, T.R. and Lizzy Lazo, Campbell & Furneisen Law Firm, David A. Bramble, Inc., Lindsay and Phil, Kent School, Phillips & Donovan Architects, LLC, and Wendy Sand Eckel and Bob Roth.
