Memorial Day Weekend 2024: Events And Parades Around The East End

NORTH FORK, NY — There are plenty of options to mark Memorial Day on the East End.

NORTH FORK

GREENPORT

- Scouts will once again host a meaningful service at the dock in Greenport on Monday, May 27, tossing flowers into the water to honor the fallen and those who have sacrificed everything for the nation. The event begins at 8 a.m. stepping off from Adams Street and Main Street, then heading down Front Street to 3rd Steet, then to the Railroad dock for the service.

- The annual Southold Town Memorial Day Parade takes place in Greenport this year on Monday, May 27, presented by hosts the Greenport American Legion Burton Potter Post 185. The parade begins at 10a.m., .with a service first, taking place at the monument at Steamboat Corner in Greenport.

"Everybody is invited, and immediately following the parade we’re going to have hot dogs, sodas, beer at the Legion. Please come by, take a look at the place, have a hot dog and celebrate our nation’s most solemn holiday," the Legion said.

ORIENT

The Orient Fire Department’s Memorial Day Parade begins at 7:30 a.m. on Monday at the fire house, located at 23300 Main Road.

RIVERHEAD

- The Memorial Day Parade takes place on Monday, May 27 and begins at 9 a.m., stepping off from Osborn Avenue to the World War I monument on the corner of Court Street and West Main Streets, then eastward on Main Street to East Avenue, north to St. John’s Cemetery, then to the Civil War monument in Riverhead Cemetery. The parade ends at the at the World War II Monument at Pulaski Street School.

CALVERTON

The annual Memorial Day Ceremony takes place at the Calverton National Cemetery assembly area Monday, May 27 at 1 p.m.

SOUTH FORK

SOUTHAMPTON

The Village of Southampton Commission on Veterans Patriotic Events hosts its Memorial Day Service Monday May 27, at 11 a.m. in Agawam Park. Before the service, a parade kicks off at 10 am. at the Presbyterian Church, heading down Job's Lane.

HAMPTON BAYS

The annual Memorial Day service and parade takes place Monday, May 27 at 10 a.m. at the American Legion Hand-Aldrich Post 924, located at 55 Ponquogue Avenue. A parade follows, beginning at the Legion and heading to Main Street before concluding at Good Ground Cemetery, where a service will take place around 11 a.m.

SAG HARBOR

The Chelberg & Battle American Legion Post #388 parade begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 27 at the World War II monument near Mashashimuet Park and ends at Marine Park, passing through Main Street. Hosted by the VFW and the American Legion, the Memorial Day event, which begins at 9 a.m., includes a ceremony on the Village Green following the parade.

EAST HAMPTON

The Memorial Day parade takes place on Monday, May 27 at 9 a.m. with a service hosted by the East Hamptons Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 550. Next, the parade takes place at 10 a.m. and heads down Main Street.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer on the East End.

Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

- Harbes Family Farm will be hosting its 2nd Baby Animal Festival over Memorial Day weekend in Mattituck. For information, click here.

- The 28th Annual Mosaic Festival unfolds in Riverhead Sunday. For information, click here.

- The Maggie Burbank Arts & Craft Show unfolds over Memorial Day weekend on the Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach. For information, click here.

- The Southampton Inn's 25th Anniversary Memorial Day BBQ take place on Sunday, May 26; for information,click here.

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.