Summer in Delaware: Ready, set, festival!
With just 19 days of the summer behind us and 74 more to go, the season of sun is just tuning up.
And as the temperatures rise, so do the number of festivals and big-time outdoor events across the First State.
Whether you want to run with bulls this weekend, dance the night away with national touring acts or geek out with thousands of comic books, the summer of 2016 in Delaware has been tailor-made for you.
Before the summer inexplicably disappears like it always does, here are six upcoming summertime events that will help you squeeze every last drop out of the season.
Saturday: Running of the Bull
The Starboard, 2009 Del. 1, Dewey Beach; starboard.com
Big surprises are expected as the state's goofiest event turns 20 this year. The annual Running of the Bull fills the Starboard with party people wearing red and white before they jog six blocks along the oceanfront with two people dressed in a bull costume chasing them. It all ends with the bull and a bullfighter going toe to toe at the bar for an event-closing bullfight. The Starboard fills early, and the party rages all morning with Orange Crushes and champagne bottles before the run at 2 p.m. In addition, expect live music from LauraLea & TrippFabulous. A kids bull run begins at 9:30 a.m. at New Orleans Street. Both events are free.
July 16: Shady Grove Music Festival
2126 The Highway, Arden; shadygrovemusicfest.com
Tucked away under the trees in Arden's Shady Grove near the Gild Hall, the 14th annual Shady Grove Music Festival will continue its march to spotlight indie local and regional acts. This year, Newark-based experimental pop act Fiance, a Firefly Music Festival alum, will headline. Other local acts on the nine-band bill include funk masters Universal Funk Order; Newark pop/rock four-piece Maiden Names; and Wilmington pop band The Limits, a new act from Stallions frontman Andrew Price. Three Man Canon, the Philadelphia-based rock band with a damn near perfect name, also will perform in the shade. Tickets are $15 in advance through the band's website or $20 at the door. It's free for children 12 and under.
July 20-July 31: Delaware State Fair
18500 U.S. 13, Harrington; delawarestatefair.com
When we say country singer Jake Owen is kicking off the Delaware State Fair, we mean it. For the first time, the Grandstand will open a day early ahead of the festival's official opening for a kickoff concert. (There is no gate admission charge for the special opening because the fair’s carnival rides, livestock animals and circus performers will be dark.) Owen tickets are $31-$125. Starting July 21, everything will be open, and everyone from country's Little Big Town (July 24) and Alabama (July 25) to rockers X Ambassadors (July 27) and Delaware's own George Thorogood and the Destroyers (July 29) will play the 9,800-seat Grandstand. Gate admission is $9. It's $4 for ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and younger.
July 21: Ladybug Music Festival
Second and Market streets, Wilmington; theladybugfestival.com
Nearly 50 female-fronted music acts will flood Wilmington's downtown for the fifth annual Ladybug Music Festival. The state's largest celebration of women in music will bring their voices to 12 different stages for the block party. In addition to the improved, new stage on Market Street, musicians will perform everywhere from Extreme Pizza and LOMA Coffee to Bobbi Rhian's Executive Lounge and a second outdoor stage at Delaware Technical Community College's courtyard. The festival, which draws thousands, features a mix of local acts such as Nadjah Nicole and singers from afar, such as Denver's Becca Krueger. This year's headliner is young rockabilly/country singer-songwriter Caroline Rose, who recently opened for Lake Street Dive and will open for Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado later this summer. (She plays an hourlong set at 9:30 p.m.) In addition to all the music, the fest will be filled with 10 food trucks; street vendors; and activities such as face-painting, sidewalk chalk and more. The festival is free.
July 30: Peoples' Festival
Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, Wilmington; peoplesfestival.com
Ivan Neville's funk/jam hybrid Dumpstaphunk and Jamaican reggae/hip-hop artist Ky-Mani Marley will be among the high-energy acts at the 22nd People's Festival. The festival, which honors one-time Wilmington resident and reggae superstar Bob Marley, regularly features performances by members of the Marley clan. While the 40-year-old headliner Ky-Mani Marley has performed at the festival before, it will mark the festival debut of Dumpstaphunk and Neville, son of R&B singer Aaron Neville. Other acts include Argentinian hip-hop/reggae/dancehall singer Alika, Los Angeles-based Latin reggae act Quinto Sol and Grammy-winning reggae singer Mykal Rose. Delaware acts such as Spokey Speaky, Brixton Saint, the Kooligans, Richard Raw and the Limits will also play along the Christina River. New this year: free parking at Colonial Parking's nearby lot at Second and King streets. It costs $25-$75.
Aug. 6: Dover Comic Con
Dover Public Library, 35 Loockerman Plaza, Dover; cityofdover.com/comic-con
Dover's Comic Con is the largest in the state. How big exactly? How about 7,000 people big. That's how many came to the event last year with plenty dressed in costume. The indoor/outdoor comic con kicks off at 10 a.m. and includes an outdoor street festival, complete with an outdoor market; food trucks; and the Artist Alley filled with artists, authors, artisans, fan groups and costume clubs. There also will be panels on writing and creating comics, cosplay and more. Comic con-themed activities also will he held in other parts of the city, including the Dover Art League, Biggs Museum of American Art and the Schwartz Center for the Arts. Dover Comic Con is free.
Contact Ryan Cormier at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).