Activities
Heritage Parade
Time: Begins at 10:00 AM – Location: Main Street
The Middletown Heritage Festival Parade kicks off the Festival with the Frederick County Honor Guard leading the parade down Main Street from Prospect to Willow.
With its dance groups, floats, marching bands and a variety of community organizations, the parade is always a highlight of the day.
Parade participants will stage from Cone Branch to Prospect on Main Street.
Grand Marshals for the 2026 Heritage Parade - The Hawker Family
of Walnut Ridge Farm / Moo Cow Creamery owned by Danny & Pam Moser
Heritage Festival Booth
Location: Main Street in front of Town Hall
Be sure to check out the Middletown Heritage Festival booth. We have loads of merchandise for sale to remember your day at the festival! Mugs, t-shirts and other great keepsakes await you at the Heritage Booth.
And remember you can purchase year-round from our online store! Just click “SHOP” in the header above. We will deliver to your home if you’re local or ship to you if you’re far away!
Middletown Volunteer Fire Dept
First Aid Station & Safety Information
Location: Corner of Main & S. Jefferson St.
MVFD will have lots of important information for both kids and adults on fire and personal safety in the home, bike safety, the new program “Close Before You Doze”. Check out the pieces of apparatus on display and ask questions of our firefighters and EMTs.
Christ Reformed UCC
The church will have the following activities at the church:
- Bounce House
- Bake/Craft Table
- Build a Birdhouse Craft
- Prayer Tree
Christmas in the Valley Ornament
The 2026 Christmas in the Valley Collectible Ornament, 20th in a Series
Main Street Middletown’s Welcome Center and Office
Honoring America's 250th Anniversary,
1776–2026
This year marks a special milestone: the 20th ornament in the Christmas in the Valley series, created in honor of America's 250th anniversary. It shows Middletown as it may have looked in 1776, just nine years after German settlers first laid out the town in 1767 at the base of South Mountain. Log cabins line a snow-covered street beneath the mountain's familiar silhouette, painted in the same soft, glowing sunset that still graces our valley today. A flag hangs from a cabin porch, marking the birth of our nation. Santa appears in a deep green robe, true to the old-world style worn long before red became his signature. This ornament brings together 250 years of American history with the timeless spirit of the season, under a sky that has watched over Middletown Valley all along.
Cost: $35 (includes ornament, stand, and gift box)
Where to Buy: Town Booth at the Heritage Festival or the Town Office during business hours
Proceeds support the Christmas in the Valley celebration on December 5, 2026.
Thank you for supporting this beloved community tradition!
Welcome Center
19-21 West Main Street, Middletown
Stop by the Welcome Center to view a curated collection of historic Middletown artifacts and photographs from the Larry Bussard Collection created for Heritage Festival! Stay and view videos providing an overview of Middletown and our Civil War history. Start holiday shopping early with locally made gifts, notecards, books, stickers, magnets, and more. Main Street Middletown, MD Inc. is a nonprofit organization that celebrates the downtown businesses, buildings, and our local charm.
