The theme at the Delaware beaches this weekend is red, white and traffic.

That’s right, it’s the Fourth of July, the busiest week of the year in Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and Fenwick Island. Multiple towns will host free, not-to-miss firework shows you can watch from the beach, but you’ve got to battle the thousands of other people on the roads to see them. And what if it rains?

Here’s everything you need to know about Fourth of July weekend at the Delaware beaches.

Weather

Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be mostly sunny with temperatures around 80 degrees — great beach weather.

Thursday evening will bring clouds and a 50% chance of storms, according to the National Weather Service, and poor weather is predicted to continue into Friday morning. Friday’s forecast is partly sunny with a 40% chance of rain and highs in the mid 80s.

More clouds are predicted for Friday night, with a chance of storms. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be mostly sunny with a 40% chance of storms and temperatures in the mid 80s again.

Don’t let the threat of a storm ruin your beach day; they often come and go quickly in the summertime. Check the radar often, and look below to see what your town will do if it rains at fireworks time.

Traffic

Look, traffic is going to be bad this week, in the downtowns, on Coastal Highway and everywhere. There’s no avoiding it.

Allow extra time to get where you’re going and even more time to find parking. Bring stuff for the kids to do in the car. For fireworks especially, plan on being in traffic for at least an hour and likely more when leaving town. After the show, linger on the beach or downtown, eat, shop, be entertained — the later you leave, the less traffic there will be.

More: No permits, possible wetlands and a questionable deed on Rehoboth Beach’s Silver Lake

Walking, biking, or taking the DART bus or a trolley are highly recommended. Parking at locations on Coastal Highway and walking downtown is worth it for fireworks in Rehoboth and Bethany — just make sure you wear good shoes.

Above all, be patient and obey the law. Make room for police, fire and ambulance vehicles.

Again for the people in the back: Be patient and obey the law!

Fourth of July celebrations

Lewes

“Go Fourth Lewes” has a full day of events in store for Thursday, July 4. There are free old-fashioned children’s games, such as an egg toss and a sack race, on Second Street starting at 9 a.m. At noon, check out the 28th Annual July 4th Celebration and Car Show at Trinity Faith Christian Center on New Road. It features free food, a bounce house, hayrides, a DJ and more.

The boat parade, which starts at Roosevelt Inlet and heads southeast to downtown, begins at 1:30 p.m.

The Doo-Dah Parade is a uniquely Lewes tradition that has no official start time, but usually begins around 5 p.m. Anyone can participate by meeting in the area of Lloyd’s Market on Savannah Road. The parade winds down Kings Highway to Second Street, then back down Savannah to end at Lloyd’s.

Fireworks begin at dusk, launched from the bay off Lewes Beach.

If the fireworks are rained out, the rain date is the next day, Friday, July 5. More info at gofourthlewes.org.

Rehoboth Beach

Rehoboth Beach will celebrate the holiday Saturday, July 6.

Locals’ favorite The Funsters will play a free concert at the bandstand, which starts at 8 p.m. and continues after the fireworks. Fireworks launch at dusk, or around 9:30 p.m., from the beach near Brooklyn Avenue.

“Because of the extra support personnel we have to bring in, we generally don’t have rain dates,” city spokesperson Lynne Conan said. “We will do our very best to get the fireworks off on the scheduled date, even if we have to decide to go a bit early or hold and go late.”

On Saturday, the city will institute the following traffic and parking rules:

• The Rehoboth Avenue bandstand area will be closed to traffic between 6 p.m. to midnight.
• Henlopen and Surf avenues will be open to bus and resident traffic only beginning at 7 p.m. Residents of Henlopen Avenue, Henlopen Acres and North Shores should use Second Street.
• Beginning at 7 p.m., the circle on Rehoboth Avenue will be open to east and westbound traffic only.
• Beginning at 8 p.m., Rehoboth Avenue eastbound will close at Coastal Highway and all vehicles must enter town via State Road.
• After the fireworks, vehicles north of Rehoboth Avenue will be directed to exit via Rehoboth and Columbia avenues. Vehicles on the south side of Rehoboth Avenue will be directed to Hickman and Munson Streets to take State Road to Coastal Highway northbound or Bayard Avenue to Coastal Highway southbound.
• After the fireworks, DART bus riders can pick up the bus at the Henlopen Hotel.
• No parking will be allowed on Surf Avenue, in the convention center parking lot, in the bandstand area of Rehoboth Avenue, on Grenoble and Surfside places and at certain marked spaces on the ocean block of Hickman Street.

More info at cityofrehoboth.com.

More: Whale breach off Bethany Beach leaves nearby paddleboarders elated to capture it on video

Dewey Beach

Highway One, the company that owns Dewey Beach bars such as the Bottle & Cork, the Rusty Rudder and northbeach, will host fireworks at dusk on Thursday, July 4. They’ll be set off on a barge near McKinley Street on Rehoboth Bay. Contact the Rusty Rudder with questions at 302-227-3888.

Bethany Beach

Bethany Beach’s Thursday, July 4, celebration begins with a parade at noon. It starts at Pennsylvania Avenue and Central Boulevard, traveling south on Pennsylvania Avenue, circling around on Cedarview Street and heading north on Atlantic Avenue to Ocean View Parkway.

There’s a free concert from The 1974 at the bandstand at 7:30, followed by fireworks over the beach at dusk.

The Bethany Beach Trolley will not operate between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Any weather-related changes or cancellations will be posted at townofbethanybeach.com.

Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

Carney added that like lawmakers, he’ll look at it from various angles.

“I think every member looks at it from their own perspective in terms of their moral compass, in terms of their religious background in terms of their own personal experience,” he said. “I think everybody has that both personal perspective, which comes from kind of their moral compass, and their experience, and that’s the approach I’ll take.”

If Carney vetoes the legislation, it’s not clear if the legislature would have the votes to override the veto. The bill did not pass with veto-proof majorities. Lawmakers would need 3/5ths of each chamber to vote yes to overturn a veto.

The legislation is called the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End-of-Life Options Act, named in honor of two advocates of the legislation.

Supporters say it includes a number of safeguards, including ensuring patients are self-administering the medication, moral objection opt-outs for medical providers, waiting periods and mandatory mental health evaluations. Two doctors would be required to certify that the patient is mentally capable, making an informed decision and is acting voluntarily.

Democratic Sen. Stephanie Hansen, of Middletown, who supported the bill in the Senate, talked about her father enduring amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which leaves people unable to eat, breathe or move.

“Every day after he got to a particular point, he would say to my mother ‘Sara Lee, please take the pistol out of the nightstand that we keep next to our bed and shoot me. This needs to be over,’” Hansen said. “Every single day.”

A number of groups representing the disability community have opposed the legislation. They said they are concerned disabled people could be manipulated to end their lives, instead of receiving what could be expensive medical care.

If it becomes law, Delaware would be the 11th state nationwide to enact an end-of-life provision, joining other states like New Jersey, Vermont and Oregon.

Delaware State Police continue to investigate a shooting that occurred at the Big Chill Surf Cantina parking lot in Rehoboth. Through investigative means, detectives identified the suspect responsible for the shooting as 28-year-old Jonathan Blackwell of Milford, Delaware and obtained a warrant for his arrest for several felony offenses.

On June 30, 2024, Blackwell was taken into custody in Pennsylvania. Upon extradition to Delaware, he will be charged with the following crimes:

• Assault 1^st Degree (Felony)
• Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
• Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon – Firearm (Felony)

The Delaware State Police Troop 4 Criminal Investigations Unit continues to investigate this incident. Detectives are asking anyone who has information regarding this incident to contact Detective J. Hill at 302-752-3792. Information may also be provided by sending a Private Facebook Message to the Delaware State Police, by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, or via the internet at www.delawarecrimestoppers.com.

If you or someone you know is a victim or witness of a crime or have lost a loved one to a sudden death and need assistance, the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit / Delaware Victim Center is available to offer you support and resources 24 hours a day through a toll-free hotline at 1-800-VICTIM-1 (1-800-842-8461). You may also email the Victim Services Unit at DSP_VictimServicesMail@delaware.gov.

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