Dexter Daze returns again this year August 10 & 11 and is a celebration that runs far back into Dexter’s past long before it was called “Dexter Daze.”
An outdoor community festival has been happening each summer in Dexter for almost as long as there has been a Dexter. Prior to the year 1971, the event was centered around a sidewalk sale and dubbed simply “Sidewalk Days.” Merchants displayed their goods out on the sidewalk at special prices to draw people into town. The annual event grew as the village grew.
In 1972, Elaine Owsley and Nancy McLeod began chairing the first “Discover Dexter Days” for the Dexter Chamber of Commerce in an effort to promote local businesses and draw visitors in from the surrounding communities. The event was held on the first weekend in August that year with activities including old-time movies, a pie-baking contest, square dancing, a parade and much more.
The 1974 Dexter Sesquicentennial celebration greatly enlarged the summer festival and carried over into the next year when it was renamed “Dexter Daze.”
Over the decades since then, Dexter Daze has become the apotheosis of a family event: there is a parade, artisan craft booths, kid activities, crafts & games, food, music and other fun entertainment, local downtown specials, and perhaps one of the biggest draws to downtown for Dexter Daze being that chance meeting of a friend for a quick catching-up while having fun.
Below is the schedule of events. C’mon out Dexter, see you there!
2018 Dexter Daze Schedule
Art & Business Booths are Open Friday 10am – 8pm & Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm Train Runs Saturday only from 11am – 6pm
Social Tent is Open Friday & Saturday, 11 am – 11 pm
Bounce Houses (Hopper’s House)Friday & Saturday from 11am – 6pm
Friday, August 10, 2018
Gazebo
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm – School of Rock – Ann Arbor
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm – The Invasion (Music of the 60’s)
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm – Most Wanted (Mark Hiser’s Rock Band)
Mill Creek Park
11:00 am – 12:00 pm – Kevin S. Devine – Rollicking Participatory Children’s Music
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – A2 Magic
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Yo-Yo Zeemo
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Leslie Science Center
Saturday, August 11, 2018
10:00 am – Dexter Daze Parade
11:00 am – 2:30 pm LaFontaine Classic Car Show on Jeffords St
Gazebo
11:00am – 12:45 pm – No Conflict (Country, Roots Rock, Folk)
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – From Grace (Acoustic / Vocal group)
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm – Duck Race
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm – RFD Boys (Blue grass / Country)
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm – Dance Floor Crush (Top 40, Funk, 80’s)
Mill Creek Park
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Colors the clown
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm – Children’s Theater
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm – Bacchanal Promotions– Top Hat Performer
10:00 pm – FIREWORKS (Mill Creek Park North)
