Chamber readies for large Sea Witch crowds
After last year's record crowds for the annual Sea Witch parade, the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce and city officials are getting ready to handle the anticipated hordes of scary monsters and super creeps.
“We’re treating this like a Fourth of July event,” Chief Keith Banks said.
“It’s a wonderful problem to have due to the popularity of the event,” said chamber CEO and President Carol Everhart. “But we were out of space.”
Since last year’s festival, Everhart said, the chamber has met with city and state officials to come up with a plan to handle the anticipated crowd.
Free parking with shuttle bus service into downtown Rehoboth will be set up north and south of Rehoboth at the Rehoboth Little League fields and Epworth United Methodist Church on Holland Glade Road, at the Route 1 Park and Ride, Tower Road outside Dewey Beach and at the South Inlet Area in Delaware Seashore State Park. Shuttles will run every half hour the day of the parade, Saturday, Oct. 25 from 8 a.m. to noon and then 2 to 6 p.m.
The Sea Witch parade will step off around 10:30 a.m. from the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, head around the Bandstand and back. Everhart said Rehoboth Avenue will be closed to traffic after 10:30 a.m. and there will be no parking allowed in the median parking areas along the parade route.
There will also be no parking in the medians on Scarborough Avenue, Everhart said, after residents complained about cars clogging the area last year.
The Rehoboth Beach Police Department will be supplemented by officers from outside agencies, Banks said, and barricades will be placed along the parade route to allow those taking part in the parade to have plenty of room to maneuver. Banks said last year, the crowd closed in on the start of the parade route, and those taking part had to navigate tight quarters.
The chamber will distribute a map with parking and shuttle bus information, with more festival information at www.beach-fun.com.
Besides the parade, among other events, this year’s Sea Witch Festival will also include entertainment from The Funsters, Jimi Smooth & HitTime, Touch of Brass, Neon Swing, New Sweden, British Invasion Experience and the Pantones-Steel Drum Band at the Bandstand.
At 3 p.m., Friday, Oct. 24, the Delaware 87ers, NBA D-League affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, will be appearing at the Tyke Bike on the Boardwalk. Children 8 years old or younger will be able to ride their big wheels and tricycles from the Bandstand to Funland.
