(Aug. 4, 2016) The second fork of Berlin’s two-pronged attack of events this weekend is the third annual Berlin Heritage Festival, held on the south end of town while the Peach Festival is set up on the north side.
To accommodate the vintage and classic vehicles on display during the festival, Main Street will be closed downtown, and the town will be running a shuttle service, centered on Berlin Intermediate School, at 305 Franklin Avenue. The shuttle is free, and parking is available at the school.
From the shuttle, both festivals are easily walked to, as the Peach Festival is set up at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum, and the Heritage Festival is much more decentralized, with a number of features occurring concurrently and somewhat randomly throughout the town.
For example, and taking a page from Colonial Williamsburg, Berlin will play host to a number of street scenes depicting life in the small town during World War I, World War II and the events cutoff date, 1959.
The Ocean Pines Players will reenact the scenes, which were written and directed by the Players’ board president Karen McClure.
Also in costume will be various vendors and local merchants and actors, according to event chair Pat Denar.
“We won an award from the Tri-County Council last year for bringing history to the streets,” Denar said. “The festival is a vehicle to bring history. The town is only 5-6 blocks long, so it’s intimate.”
History is Denar’s passion.
“I was a history major, and this is right in line with things I like, but Berlin is unique in personality — especially with Ocean City and Assateague so close by. I think this event is in keeping with that personality,” she said.
The festival is intended to commemorate the incorporation of the town in 1868, when it was run by committee, Denar said. The first mayor was elected in 1885, she said.
To accommodate the vintage and classic vehicles on display during the festival, Main Street will be closed downtown, and the town will be running a shuttle service, centered on Berlin Intermediate School, at 305 Franklin Avenue. The shuttle is free, and parking is available at the school.
From the shuttle, both festivals are easily walked to, as the Peach Festival is set up at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum, and the Heritage Festival is much more decentralized, with a number of features occurring concurrently and somewhat randomly throughout the town.
For example, and taking a page from Colonial Williamsburg, Berlin will play host to a number of street scenes depicting life in the small town during World War I, World War II and the events cutoff date, 1959.
The Ocean Pines Players will reenact the scenes, which were written and directed by the Players’ board president Karen McClure.
Also in costume will be various vendors and local merchants and actors, according to event chair Pat Denar.
“We won an award from the Tri-County Council last year for bringing history to the streets,” Denar said. “The festival is a vehicle to bring history. The town is only 5-6 blocks long, so it’s intimate.”
History is Denar’s passion.
“I was a history major, and this is right in line with things I like, but Berlin is unique in personality — especially with Ocean City and Assateague so close by. I think this event is in keeping with that personality,” she said.
The festival is intended to commemorate the incorporation of the town in 1868, when it was run by committee, Denar said. The first mayor was elected in 1885, she said.