Town of Blackstone Plans Full Day of Memorial Day Festivities Sunday

With warm weather on the horizon, the Town of Blackstone is heading into summer with its annual Memorial Day Parade and Celebration on Sunday, May 26.

Parade

As always, our event begins with our Memorial Day Parade sponsored by Unibank. The parade will depart from the Town Common at the corner of Main Street and County Street promptly at 1:00 PM. The Parade will proceed down Main Street onto St. Paul Street and conclude with a ceremony in front of Blackstone’s Town Hall. Spectators can expect road closures on Main Street to begin at approximately 12:45 PM.

Ceremony

Following the parade will be a remembrance ceremony by the war monuments directly in front of Blackstone Town Hall at 15 St. Paul Street. State and local officials gather with our veterans and other community members to speak about those we have lost, read related poetry authored by a Blackstonian, and lay ceremonial wreaths.

This year, we will again hold two ceremonies on Sunday, May 26. The first will be held at the Civil War Monument at the intersection of Canal Street and Bridge Street, at 1:00 PM. It will be followed by a ceremony at Veteran’s Corner, located at the intersection of Mendon Street and Main Street.

Celebration

For the remainder of the day and evening, our annual celebration is held behind Town Hall at Roosevelt Park. This year’s entertainment will be composed of three talented local groups. We will start at 2:30 PM with the wonderful talents of the BMR Jazz Band. There is a designated Sensory Friendly Quiet Hour from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, where there will be no live performances to accommodate families with children with sensory issues and special needs. We will continue with a performance by Norris the Terribleat 6:00 PM, followed by Lady Anemoia at 7:30 PM. The evening will conclude with our most extensive fireworks display at 9:30 PM, brought to you by Ocean State Pyrotechnics.

We have a few exciting and noteworthy changes to our festivities this year. The first is the addition of several food trucks including the Blount Clam Shack Truck, Methods of a Madwoman, Bees and Thank You, Atrevete a Probar, Uncle Joey’s Cannoli, The Big Freezy, and Sweet Wise Ice Cream.  

While we continue to have our carnival rides, we will also have a bounce house and an inflatable obstacle course. There will be lawn games available for our guests to enjoy, as well as a variety of vendors and local organizations offering unique shopping opportunities. There will also be face painting, balloons, temporary tattoos, henna, patriotic hair extension braiding, and so much more!

Parking

There is limited parking on-site, but there are other options surrounding the venue. Parking is available along Main Street, in the Dean Bank parking lot, along Canal Street and Bridge Street, and on most side streets.

Detailed Event Information

For the most up-to-date information, follow the Town of Blackstone on Facebook and add the Memorial Day Parade and Celebration event to your calendar. Event details and information are also available at: https://www.townofblackstone.org/571/Memorial-Day-Committee.

We hope to see you all there! 

Questions?

Please reach out to the Memorial Day Committee via email, the Office of the Town Administrator, or either contact person listed below with any questions, concerns, or day of issues:

• Memorial Day Committee: memorialday@townofblackstone.org
• Tanya Polak (Committee Vice Chair): tpolak@townofblackstone.org | (401) 263-6084
• Chad Lovett (Town Administrator): clovett@townofblackstone.org | (508) 883-1500