Fairfield 375th Anniversary Float Wins Top Award at Barnum Parade

Just days before the Town of Fairfield marks its 375th Anniversary this weekend, First Selectman Mike Tetreau announced that the town’s 375th Anniversary Float won the Grand Marshal’s Award at the annual Barnum Festival Great Street Parade. 

In honor of the town’s 375th anniversary, a float was created and featured at the June 29 Barnum Festival Parade. The float depicted a saltbox that was burned by the British in 1779. The float commemorates the fate of many homes of the settlers in the “Four Squares” of Fairfield.  

The award-winning float was designed by architect and resident Jack Franzen and was built in cooperation with 375th Anniversary Committee member Jeanne Harrison, the Board of Selectmen’s 2013 Fairfielder of the Year Award Winner, the Department of Public Works and many volunteers who donated their time and talents.

Accompanying the float were 375th Anniversary Co-Chair Betsy Browne, Fairfield’s Town Clerk, and Claire Abate, Matthew Chrismer, Dominick Sample, and Lisa Sxudora, who represented Children of the American Revolution.

Here's a rundown of what's planned for the anniversary festival on Saturday, July 5.

The Fairfield Family Fun Fest will be held rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the historic Town Green and Museum Campus.

The one-day, open air festival event will feature live musical entertainment, food trucks and a beer garden centered around the historic Sun Tavern, Fairfield’s own “PopShop Market” and artisan fair, a revolutionary war encampment with historical re-enactors, children’s games and activities and fun for the whole family. Admission is free.

The Fairfield Museum and History Center will feature the ongoing exhibition, Creating Community: Exploring 375 Years of Our Past, which invites visitors to see, hear, touch and truly experience what life was like in our area from the 1600s to today, as well as two new exhibitions, Growing Up in Fairfield: Memories and Milestones and Picturing Fairfield: The Photographs of Mabel Osgood Wright. Docent-led tours of the 1780 Sun Tavern, the first building to be erected after the British attack on Fairfield on July 7, 1779, will also be available throughout the day. 

The Fairfield Theatre Company has organized a lineup of local performers including Mike Dougherty & the Mostly Green Band, Girls on Bikes and FTC’s own John Reid. The stage will be headlined by local reggae legend Mystic Bowie and his band.  

The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will have a free open house at the Old Academy where volunteers will give unscheduled tours between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. of the newly refurbished Old Academy School Room that has period mannequins in costumes from the era.  Visitors can also view new displays in this historic building, which is located at 635 Old Post Road, near the Old Town Hall and Independence Hall.  The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s refurbishments and mannequins were a gift to the Town for its 375th anniversary.

There is limited parking on site. Free parking will be available at Sherman Elementary School, 250 Fern St. and at First Church Congregational, 148 Beach Rd. 

For additional information on participating vendors, restaurants, music and activities, visit www.fairfieldct.org/FunFest.