CHESTERTOWN — This weekend, the Chestertown Tea Party Festival will celebrate the “Chester Town Resolves” and the United States’ 250th anniversary.
The namesake demonstration is the reenactment of the Chestertown Tea Party at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 23 at the main stage, located on High Street near the entrance to Court Street.
It all will begin with a reading of the 1774 document about the illegality of tea which as held by “local lore” sparked the dumping of tea in town, according to the festival website. The reading will be followed by an altercation down to the waterfront and the tossing of tea into the Chester River.
The “renowned and hilarious” local tradition of the raft race will close out the festival weekend at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24.
Rafters will launch from the dock off of Washington College’s Hodson Boathouse, according to Andy Goddard, the Tea Party Festival’s head of programming.
She said spectators are encouraged to view the raft race from the Wilmer Park waterfront.
The festival begins Friday, May 22 with a party in Wilmer Park from 5 to 9 p.m., followed by fireworks in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary. Music will be provided by the Doug Segree Band. There will be a beer booth and a variety of food trucks.
Saturday’s festivities kick off at 10 a.m. with a colonial-themed parade down High Street, complete with fife and drum groups and marching bands.
LaMonte Cooke, the longtime director of corrections for Queen Anne’s County and a former chief deputy with the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, is this year’s parade grand marshal.
The downtown area will be filled with artisan vendors throughout the day Saturday, while food and beverage options will include crab cakes, funnel cakes, oysters, shrimp, ribs, strawberry shortcake, beer and soft drinks.
Three performances will take place on Saturday at the Garfield Center for the Arts, 210 High St.
Sumner Hall’s fashion show “Threadz of Truth” at 11 a.m. “is a heartfelt tribute to the enduring legacy of Black women across 250 years,” according to a news release, and the show “highlights figures featured in the Sumner Hall Dream Quilters’ Iconic Quilt.”
A show titled “Liberty Tea” at noon tells “the real story behind the Tea Act and the dumping of tea” in Boston Harbor, according to the news release, with characters including Abigail Adams and Sarah Bradlee Fulton.
“Music of the New Nation” will be performed by the traditional American music group Ampersand at 1 p.m., featuring instruments including guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, hammered dulcimer, cello and penny whistles.
Anne and Ridley Enslow will perform “a concert of lively 18th-century songs about the struggle for American independence” at the Bordley History Center, 301 High St. There will be three shows, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Musical performances on the main stage include the country-bluegrass ensemble U.S. Navy Country Current, the Garnet Elementary School Tiger Chorus and Generations Band Together.
Additional musical entertainment will be performed on the Custom House lawn.
A variety of performers and crafters will be on the Kent County courthouse lawn for the “Heritage Village,” featuring colonial rope making, basket weaving, ice cream making, a display of wallpaper band boxes, and demonstrations imitating grocers, sutlery and woodworkers.
Also, Drew Shuptar-Rayvis, an Algonkian living historian and a citizen of the Pocomoke Indian Nation, returns this year as a cultural ambassador of the nation.
Hercules Posey, the enslaved head chef of George Washington, will be portrayed by actor Keith Henley at 11 a.m. at the Heritage Village and again at 12:30 p.m. on the stage at the High Street waterfront.
A military encampment also will be set up near the Heritage Village. Periodically, actors portraying a brigade or battalion will perform maneuvers prior to the official 2 p.m. reenactment.
The Heritage Village also will be the venue for children’s activities including puppet shows, crafts, a participatory jug band and face painting
Walking tours that showcase Chestertown’s colonial history will run at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Saturday, beginning at the information booth on the corner of Cross and High streets.
The festival resumes at noon on Sunday, May 24 in Wilmer Park with a beer fest featuring live music with the Chesapeake Sons, craft vendors and entertainment for children including a puppet show and a participatory jug band.
For more information and a full schedule of events and times, visit https://www.chestertownteaparty.org/.
