WESTBROOK — For close to 40 years, Westbrook Together Days has been bringing families together in the city’s unofficial kickoff to summer, with rides, food and entertainment.

This year’s festival, which is organized by the Westbrook-Gorham Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 4 p.m. at Riverbank Park on Friday, June 1, with opening remarks followed by performances at 4:30 by the Delta Knights (R&B, blues, classic rick and swing) and at 6:30 by The Waiters (jazz dance party). The Time Pilots, a 5-piece dance party band, will take to the stage at 8:30 p.m. in a show sponsored by Infinity Credit Union.

The annual Westbrook Together Days parade, sponsored by Mercy Hospital, will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 2. The parade will be preceded by the Westbrook Together Days 5K road race, which will take place on a 3.1-mile course near the high school. Earlier that morning, Boy Scout Troop 87 will be holding its annual pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. The menu includes scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, French toast, home fries and beverages.

Dick Durgin, who helped organize the parade, said the parade will begin at 10 a.m. on Bridge Street and continue down Main Street to the park. The theme of this year’s parade is a tribute to first responders and its grand marshal will be former Westbrook Fire Chief Byron Rogers.

“He’s been an icon in Westbrook for a really long time,” said chamber Vice President and Together Days organizer Suzanne Joyce. “He’s been very dedicated to this town.”

Like in previous years, the parade will feature members of the fire and police departments, local politicians, youth sports teams, local businesses and civic groups, the Westbrook Historical Society, the middle school band, high school marching band, local dancers and the Westbrook Women’s Club, which organized the first Westbrook Together Days. 

The parade, Durgin said, is a “good way to kick off” Westbrook Together Days’ Saturday festivities.

“It brings the community out and gets them to share in a great event,” he said. “It’s a huge parade. We usually have around 40 to 50 groups and organizations that participate in it.”

“People have such a good time they come back year after year,” he added.

Saturday’s parade will be followed by with performances by local musical acts including the Rick Charette (children’s singer/songwriter) at noon, American Ride (modern country) at 1:30 p.m., Andrew Demmons and Fighting Fiction (modern pop) at 3:30 p.m., the Westbrook City Band at 5 p.m. and Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1980s tribute) at 6:30 p.m. Tickle, a modern pop dance band with a touch of old school R&B and funk, will perform at 8:15 p.m. in a show sponsored by Saco & Biddeford Savings Institute. Saturday will also feature performances by Elite All-Stars of Maine cheerleaders at 1 p.m. and dance performances by Drouin Dance Center at 3 p.m. and Brio Dance Studio at 4:30 p.m. Saturday will also include a silent auction and a live auction.

Westbrook Gorham Chamber of Commerce board member Andrea Todd said the chamber looks to offer a “well-rounded” selection of music that will appeal to a wide variety of musical tastes, but which bands appear depends on cost and scheduling. 

This year’s Westbrook Together Days festivities will wind down with a 9:15 p.m. fireworks show sponsored by Shaw Brothers Construction.

Westbrook Together Days was started in 1980 by the Westbrook Women’s Club Community Improvement Committee as a one-time event aimed at bringing the community together. The event was taken over by the Chamber of Commerce in the mid-1980s and through the years has included carnival attractions, music and entertainment, dancing and community meals, as well as softball and tennis tournaments, swimming contests, canoe races, a fishing derby and even colonial encampments and battle reenactment at the 1986 festival.

Now, 39 years later, Westbrook Together Days is the largest event the Westbrook-Gorham Chamber of Commerce puts on. 

Todd said it is the community coming together that makes the event what it is.

“The time and effort the community puts in, pulling together everything, is what makes it a success.”

Joyce said the event wouldn’t be possible without the help of the event’s major sponsors, which include Shaw Brothers Construction, IDEXX and Waterstone.

Michael Kelley can be reached at 781-3661 x 125 or [email protected] or on Twitter @mkelleynews.

The 39th annual Westbrook Together Days, set to take place in Riverbank Park June 1 and 2, will feature carnival rides, music and dance performances, a parade down Main Street, silent auction and other community events.

Westbrook Together Days organizers are expecting 15,000 to 20,000 people to stop by next weekend’s festival, which promises fun for all ages.