Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Events, Parades In, Around Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, NH — The upcoming Memorial Day parade and festivities in Portsmouth is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

At 11 a.m. on Friday, the annual Wreath-Laying Ceremony will be held in Prescott Park by the anchor sculpture. The ceremony includes a performance of patriotic music by the Portsmouth Middle School Ensemble and a wreath-laying on the Piscataqua River to honor those service members lost at sea.

At 1 p.m. on Monday, May 27, the Memorial Day Parade steps off on Parrott Avenue and pauses at South Cemetery for a brief ceremony. The parade route travels from Parrott Avenue to Pleasant Street to Market Square, and then down Congress Street to Middle Street to Richards Avenue where the route crosses South Street to the cemetery. After the ceremony, the parade continues along South Street to Junkins Avenue and concludes on Parrott Avenue.

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

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• 'Alice'
• USED BOOK DRIVE - Greenland Women's Club Promotes Literacy
• Bluegrass Brunch featuring Tourist Attraction

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.