Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Parades, Ceremonies Around NJ

NEW JERSEY — Several upcoming Memorial Day service and parades in New Jersey are part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

Below are some events and parades around the state:

• Brick Township Memorial Day Parade (Monday)

• Chester Borough/Chester Township Commemoration (Monday)
• American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Vietnam Wall in East Brunswick (Multi-day)

• Edison Memorial Day Parade (Saturday)
• Freehold Borough Memorial Day Parade/Ceremony (Monday)
• Lacey Memorial Day Parade (Monday)
• Liberty State Park Fleet Week Fun (Sunday)
• Manchester Township Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony (Monday)
• Mendham Borough Veterans Remembrance Ceremony (Monday)
• Morris Plains Memorial Day Parade (Saturday)
• Morris Township Annual Parade and Service (Monday)
• New Brunswick Memorial Day Parade (Monday)
• Nutley Memorial Day Parade (Monday)
• Paramus LEAD Carnival at Garden State Plaza (Multi-day)
• Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Ceremony and Parade (Monday)
• Spirit of Princeton Memorial Day Parade (Saturday)
• Point Pleasant Beach Bicycle Parade/Memorial Day Service (Saturday)
• Toms River Memorial Day Ceremony (Monday)
• Washington Township Veterans Memorial Ceremony (Saturday)

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit New Jersey 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 in New Jersey. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Belmar Memorial Day Bash (Belmar)

• Jersey Shore Food Truck Festival (Oceanport)
• Keyport Waterfront Food and Music Festival (Keyport)
• Memorial Day Weekend Farmers Market (Egg Harbor Township)
• Memorial Day Weekend Festival (Bradley Beach)
• Memorial Day Weekend Musical Festival (Cape May)
• Seaside Heights Memorial Day Weekend Boardwalk Concert (Seaside Heights)
• Spring Lake 5-Mile Run (Spring Lake)
• Wildwood International Kite Festival (Wildwood)

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.