Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Parades Around Danbury

DANBURY, CT — The upcoming Memorial Day parade in Danbury is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The parade stepping off at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, May 27 from in front of the Danbury Police headquarters is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend. The march will be followed by a Rose Garden ceremony in front of Rogers Park Middle School.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

• Ridgefield's Memorial Day Parade begins at 11:30 a.m. from Jesse Lee Church, marches down Main Street and ends in Ballard Park with a closing ceremony.
• In Wilton, the parade starts at 21 River Road at 10 a.m. and proceeds through Wilton Center, up Old Ridgefield Road to Ridgefield Road to Hillside Cemetery for a Memorial Service scheduled to begin around 11 a.m.
• The Brookfield Lions Club is having its Memorial Day Parade on Sunday, May 26, at 2 p.m. Marchers step off from Brookfield High School, but don't park there: A shuttle bus from Center School will run from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. A memorial service in Williams Park is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.

Hosted by the American Veterans Center, the National Memorial Day Parade returns to Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., on Monday, starting at 2 p.m. The parade will be broadcast live, followed by a televised program "Our Sacred Honor: An American Salute," airing on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW stations nationwide.

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Danbury cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.