Before summer's long and leisurely days bid a final farewell, the East Petersburg Events Committee will offer the community a full roster of festivities to send the season out with a bang.

The community events will take place at East Petersburg Community Park, 6051 Pine St., East Petersburg, and the event committee's lineup will kick off with the East Pete Blues Festival at noon on Saturday, Aug. 31. This year, the annual concert will feature performances by Smokehouse 4, Bluestime, Soul Miners Union, Buzzard Luck, Muddy Ruckus, the Blues Reincarnation Project and Skyla Burrell Band. Throughout the day, refreshments may be purchased from food trucks such as Walk-O Taco, Simply Greek, Scoop " Dough, Krazy Kones and Dutch Country Concessions. The Blues Festival will once again feature a beer garden provided by Mad Chef Craft Brewing, which was introduced to the event in 2023.

From Wednesday, Sept. 11, to Saturday, Sept. 14, the East Petersburg Days series will return to the park to offer a variety of events to local community members and visitors from across the county. Each day of the series will feature carnival rides and games for guests of all ages, and the activities will be provided by Russ Amusements. Food, drinks and desserts will be available to purchase from different food trucks and local organizations on each day of the series. The East Petersburg Lions Club will attend the event on Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday and Saturday will feature M&M Makin the Bacon, Traveling J's, Halo's Eatery and Premium Shaved Ice.

The 2024 East Petersburg Days will feature live music from a different artist on each day. Rock group Andora will perform in the evening on Sept. 11, which will kick off with the national anthem and recognition of first responders to commemorate 9/11.

This year, the schedule has been modified to move several activities to Friday instead of Saturday to better accommodate attendees' schedules. The Friday, Sept. 13, festivities and live entertainment will include a juggler, a whoopie pie eating contest, a magician, balloon animal twisting, face painting and games for kids offered by the East Petersburg Elementary PTO. Pop Scotch will perform from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., and the evening will wrap up with a firework display at 9:30 p.m. "We tweak what we're going to be doing a little bit every year, and we really try to include as many different parts of the community as possible," said Kristin Troop, chair of the events committee. Organizations such as local Scout troops, the East Petersburg Historical Society and vendors from the area will participate in the 2024 series.

On Sept. 14, the last day of the series will begin with a kids' fun run at 8:30 a.m., followed by the annual '80s-themed 5K at 9 a.m. Prizes will be given out for the 5K's top finishers and the runners with the best retro style. Registration may be completed online in advance or on the day of the race. The annual parade, which is organized via a partnership between the Lions Club and the events committee, will take place after the 5K race. To register online, visit http://www.eastpetersburgday.com.

"East Petersburg Days is something the community looks forward to every year, and our hope is always to bring something new and exciting to bring people out to experience what East Petersburg has to offer," Troop said. "Our community has people who have lived here their whole lives as well as a new population that's just starting to learn about our events. We invite everyone to come out and see how great our park and amphitheater is."