Delaware will be celebrating not one, but two semiquincentennials during the summer of 2026, and the advance planning for both 250th anniversary commemorations is already in full swing. Delaware 250, the largely state-funded agency, is starting to coordinate efforts across the state as well as establishing the First State’s niche in the momentous occasion.
Like the rest of the country, Delaware will be commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the state will also be marking its own liberty that took place a month earlier on June 15, 1776, when it separated from the colony of Pennsylvania, of which it had been legally a part since 1682.
Delaware 250 Coordinator Margaret Hughes said literally dozens of individual celebrations will be taking place throughout the state’s towns, cities and historical sites leading up to July 2026 and will involve businesses, museums, historical locations and historical organizations. Most importantly, Delaware’s celebrations and those in nearby Philadelphia will result in a multimillion-dollar business windfall for the Delaware economy, especially in the hospitality and tourism industries.
“The idea is that we are having what we call a ‘Festival of Freedom,’ and not just for our freedom as a nation,” Hughes said. “We will also be commemorating a number of days such as Memorial Day and Juneteenth as celebrations of freedom, which are all in keeping with the promise of freedom for Americans that began with the Declaration of Independence.”
Delaware 250 launched last year under the Delaware Heritage Commission and the Delaware Public Archives. In the coming months, businesses will have multiple opportunities to be officially involved through the Delaware 250 Proud Partners program which is being rolled out this spring.
Under the program, businesses will be able to gain visibility and promotional benefits by being officially affiliated with Delaware 250. There will also be opportunities to become sponsors of individual events to help financially support the organization.
Planners like Hughes expect that Delaware will also profit from its proximity to celebrations that will be taking place in Philadelphia, dubbed “The Cradle of Liberty,” and the expected major influx of tourists there. The Brandywine Valley, just over the state line, is also likely to be a point of interest, as it was the site of the largest single battle in the Revolutionary War.
Delaware also has unique sites that may play a starring role in the 250th celebrations. In the heart of Old New Castle is the New Castle Court House, which was once Delaware’s first capitol building, where people met for the first state assembly – and where the legislature officially passed the resolution to separate from Pennsylvania. In Lewes, the Zwaanendael Museum stands as a reminder that the coastal town was the first Dutch colony in the state. It could also showcase other moments in history that Delaware played a part in, like Fort Delaware, which was an integral part of the Civil War.
The overflow opportunities in 2026 will not all be related solely to the national semiquincentennial, as Philadelphia will also be hosting multiple major sporting events that will create hospitality and tourism benefits for Delaware. One of these sports events will probably even dwarf the 250th national anniversary events.
That would be Philadelphia’s role as one of the host cities for the FIFA World Cup 26, which will draw in soccer teams and fans from around the world. The city will be the venue for six cup matches, including one in the knockout round which will take place on July 4, 2026. In addition, Philadelphia will be the site of Major League Baseball’s All-Star game in July 2026, the PGA golf championship in May 2026 at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, and the first and second rounds of March Madness, the annual NCAA men’s collegiate basketball championship tournament.
Already the Hotel Du Pont has been chosen as a potential “base camp” for one of the national teams participating in the World Cup.
“The World Cup is definitely on our radar,” Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Jennifer Boes said. “We expect to see overflow here based on the sheer size of the sporting event and how many soccer fans it attracts, not to mention the ease of reaching Philadelphia and New York via Amtrak. This is great because it will give us ready access to a much larger pool of visitors than we have ever had access to before.”
According to an economic analysis conducted by Econsult Solutions Inc., the World Cup alone could bring in more than 6,000 jobs to the region as well as $51 million in tax revenue plus $314 million in employee wages. Conversations have already begun between the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association and the Philadelphia Convention Bureau on how Delaware hotels can tap into the overflow events.
Delaware Tourism Office Director Jessica Welch said her office is already working to draw participation of tourism organizations in bringing visitors to the First State. In early February, the tourism office sponsored a booth at the Annual Bus Association convention in Philadelphia along with representatives of the downstate Nanticoke Indian Tribe and from Fort Delaware, among others.
“We’re using the slogan, ‘First State. First Stop,’” Welch said.
To open up Delaware to a broader audience, the PBS show “Travels with Darley” made a visit to Delaware as part of the Darley Revolution Road Trip to explore how the state participated in the American Revolution.
While the Delaware Tourism Office is not involved in the actual event planning, the agency can assist others plan and publicize their own participation.
“On site visits, we’re finding a lot of the hotels are a little surprised that the timing of celebration is so close,” Welch said.
The Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau will also feature a 250th themed Brandywine Treasure Trail Passport. Boes said that her office will be bringing to Delaware “travel writers and social media influencers, starting this year, to cover and create content on our region’s role in history before, during and after the founding of the U.S. Most notable is Separation Day, celebrated every June in New Castle.”
To generate more buzz, talks are underway with Wilmington Brew Works to involve local artists in designing commemorative beer cans. Hughes is drumming up support for a commemorative Delaware license plate.
Separation Day
The semiquincentennial celebrations will be different than the 1976 bicentennials in several ways. “Philadelphia, of course, will be having a major event, but we won’t be trying to match that,” Hughes said. “We are shying away from one big blowout event.”
Instead, Delaware 250 positions itself as an umbrella organization for local celebrations throughout the state in the months leading up to summer 2026. The organization will issue grants to museums and venues will range up to $10,000, with those over $7,500 requiring 50% in matching funds. The next round of grant requests will be due May 15.
Grants awarded to date have been diverse in their projects and amount of funding. For example, awards ranging from $1,800 to $15,000 have been given to the Greater Harrington Historical Society, the Newark Historical Society, Milford Museum and the Lewes Historical Society.
Additionally, the tone and scope of the planned celebrations will be different from the 200th anniversary, according to Dick Carter, chair of the Delaware Heritage Commission. The commission was originally created in 1972 as the Delaware American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and continued afterward in its present form.
“During the bicentennial, Delaware’s history of slavery was largely swept under the carpet,”
Carter told an Delaware 250 planning symposium of museums and history-related organizations held in Dover in early February. He noted that two of the three signers of the Declaration of Independence from Delaware were slaveholders. For the upcoming celebration, Carter said, “We are trying to be broader.”
At the same symposium, Hughes made it clear the goal was to give Delaware its own unique mark on history to resonate beyond 2026.
“There are new stories to uncover, and new histories that have yet to be told.” she said.
There are two events that are upcoming, one which can involve all Delaware residents and one that will be student oriented.
A “Two Lights for Tomorrow” observance is part of a nationwide program where two lights will be lit on April 18 in the windows of state capitols – Legislative Hall in Delaware – as well as in the homes of individual Delaware residents who want to commemorate Paul Revere’s historic ride on that date in 1775. On the following day, April 19, according to the plan, citizens will be called to serve their communities with volunteer projects ranging from park and cemetery clean-ups.
There will also be two Students’ Mock Continental Congresses, one this June 6 at Legislative Hall and another in June 2026, where young people will gather to simulate the debates held 250 years ago in Philadelphia.
A series of Delaware historical conferences is also planned for next year, explained Delaware 250 Marketing and Engagement Coordinator Catherine Pierce. “We’ll be looking for partner organizations and locations throughout the state, with each conference topic being themed to the appropriate location. For example, Lewes would be a great location for something connected to maritime history. We’ll be thinking about all of the many Delaware narratives up and down the state and selecting themes to go with key locations.”
Then there is the matter of that official celebration name.
At the planning symposium, State Archivist Stephen Marz led the assembled attendees in loudly reciting the unwieldy proper name for the 250th.
“’Sem-i-quin-cen-ten-ni-al,’” Marz led the group in recitation. “Get used to it. ‘Sem-i-quin-cen-ten-ni-al!’”
“It seems like we’ve been talking about this forever,” Welch says of the twin celebrations. “I remember thinking in 2023, ‘We’ve got plenty of time.’ Now it’s here.”
