The Cape Region will celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States of America with a series of events over the next few weeks.

Millsboro will kick off the celebration with the Stars and Stripes 250 Festival Saturday, June 27, beginning with a patriotic parade on Main Street from 2 to 5 p.m. The festivities continue from 5 to 9:30 p.m. with vendors, music and fireworks at the W.B. Atkins Little League fields on State Street.

July 2

The Cape-May Lewes Ferry in Lewes will host a first-of-its-kind drone light show along with live music, food vendors and fireworks at an event called Stars Over Sussex set for 5 to 9 p.m., Thursday, July 2.

July 2-5

The inaugural Old-Fashioned Sussex County Fourth of July Celebration will be held from July 2 through Sunday, July 5, at Georgetown Speedway. The event will begin with a soft opening July 2, featuring carnival rides, games and food. It continues Friday, July 3, with a tractor pull and antique tractor show. The Fourth of July is packed with a slate of actvities, including music from The Funsters and Mike Hines before a tractor-pull exhibition and a freestyle motocross event. The night concludes with fireworks about 9:30 p.m. The final day, Sunday July 5, features a classic car show. The carnival experience is open all four days. 

July 3

Milford joins the party Friday, July 3, with its Light Up the Night Laser Spectacular from 5 to 9:30 p.m. in Bicentennial Park on NE Front Street. The event features live music from Mike Hines and The Look, face painting, vendors and artisans, food trucks, and family-friendly games and activities. The laser light show is set for 9 p.m.

July 4

For the county's 250th birthday, the Declaration of Independence will be read on The Circle in Georgetown at 8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m.

Family-friendly activities begin in Lewes with the Old-Fashioned Children’s Games from 9 a.m. to noon on Second Street. Just a block over, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church will host its annual art show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Also at 9 a.m. is the 12th annual Independence Day Bike Parade in Henlopen Acres. The well-attended event begins at the town marina on Tidewaters.

Bring Mayberry Back to Milton gives residents in the 684 a reason to celebrate Independence Day with an old-fashioned patriotic event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Memorial Park. The event features entertainment, food, sack races, chess matches, water balloon fights, a pie-eating contest, and a bike-decorating contest and parade. 

Also beginning at 10 a.m. is the Broadkill Beach Fourth of July Parade, which will start at the corner of California Avenue and N. Bayshore Drive.

Historic Lewes will host Old Lewes Independence Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its complex on Shipcarpenter Street. The event will feature hand-cranked ice cream, soldiers of the Delaware battalion, music from Forbes Road Frolic, the Punch & Judy Show, martial music, colonial games such as lawn bowling and family-friendly craft activities. 

Prime Hook Beach will host its own parade at 10 a.m., beginning at the north end of Shore Drive. The parade, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, ends at the intersection of Prime Hook Road and Shore Drive, where ice cream will be available for kids.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Trinity Faith Christian Center on New Road in Lewes will host its 30th annual Fourth of July Celebration and Car Show. The event features barbecue, bounce houses, a hay ride and live entertainment. 

At 2 p.m., the Lewes Independence Day Boat Parade will begin at Roosevelt Inlet and sail its way down the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal to Fisherman’s Wharf, where a lineup of judges will choose the top boat of the year. The parade can be viewed from either side of the canal.

At 5 p.m., the Lewes Doo-Dah Parade kicks off on Kings Highway, traveling to Savannah Road, down Second Street, Market Street and Third Street before finishing on Savannah Road near Lloyd’s Market.

As for fireworks, the Go Fourth Lewes show will begin at dusk, with fireworks launched from a barge in the bay off the beach. Dewey Beach's fireworks will begin about the same time, with the show launched from a barge in Rehoboth Bay off Northbeach restaurant.

July 5

Dewey in Bloom will host the Red, White & Bloom Kids’ Bike Parade from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Sunday, July 5, beginning on McKinley Avenue bayside. The event also includes a children’s planting activity, a moon bounce, face painting, a balloon artist and sweet treats.

The Cape Region’s semiquincentennial celebration will conclude with Rehoboth Beach’s fireworks show held on the beach near Funland beginning after sunset. The Funsters will perform at the Bandstand both at 8 p.m. and following the fireworks.