Rehoboth's Fall Festival Run Starts on the Avenue and Ends in Lewes

Rehoboth Beach has three festivals across four weekends this fall, and they don't all happen in the same place. The Jazz Festival is mostly in town, with one free set in Lewes. Sea Witch fills Rehoboth Avenue from the Bandstand to State Road. Then the Rehoboth Beach International Film Festival shows every one of its films in Lewes. If you live here, the useful question for each weekend is where it happens and which streets it closes.

Paid parking ended September 15. The city's 2026 season ran May 15 to September 15, and parking is free again until next May 15. That makes driving in for a show easier. It also means more cars from out of town on festival weekends. The weekends run in this order.

Jazz week sends one set up the road, October 15–18

The Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival schedule starts Thursday, October 15, and ends Sunday, October 18. Venues include the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, the Cambria Hotel, Epworth United Methodist Church and the Rusty Rudder. Most of the ticketed music stays close to downtown.

One free set is in Lewes. Reggie Harris plays the Historic Lewes Farmers Market on Saturday, October 17, at 10 a.m. That's an easy one to pair with your Saturday market trip. The weekend closes with the Grand Jam at the Convention Center on Sunday, October 18, at 3:30 p.m. The schedule page still carries an older publish date, even though it lists the 2026 lineup. Check the organizer's page close to the weekend for any late changes.

Sea Witch weekend belongs to Rehoboth Avenue, October 23–25

Five days after the Grand Jam, Rehoboth Avenue becomes a parade route. The Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce runs Sea Witch October 23–25. Its 2026 festival program has the timings you need to plan around. In order:

1. Thursday night into Friday, 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.: No overnight parking in any Rehoboth Avenue space.
2. Friday, noon to 5 p.m.: The first Sea Witch Community Fair, for local nonprofits and community groups, at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand.
3. Saturday, 1 a.m.: Median parking on Rehoboth Avenue ends until the parade is over.
4. Saturday, 2 a.m.: Rehoboth Avenue closes to traffic and crowd-control fencing goes up on both sides. You can cross the Avenue at 1st and 2nd Streets until 9:30 a.m.
5. Saturday, 9 a.m.: Walker registration opens in the JAM Bistro and Loves Liquors lot at 305 Rehoboth Avenue. Drop-off out front ends at 10 a.m.
6. Saturday, 11 a.m.: The costume parade steps off from 4th Street. Walkers head west on Rehoboth Avenue to State Road, meet the balloons, turn back east toward the Bandstand, and loop back to 4th Street.
7. Saturday, 2 p.m.: Children's beach games and the broom toss on the beach at Baltimore Avenue, for ages 12 and under, weather permitting.
8. Saturday, about 4 p.m.: The Avenue reopens once the fencing comes down.
9. Sunday, noon: Costumed dog parade registration near the Henlopen Hotel. The parade starts at 1 p.m. and heads south on the Boardwalk to Laurel Street. Awards are at the Bandstand at 2:30 p.m.

Pony rides run on the beach Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Carriage rides run Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. This year the program lists Bandstand music under "Live Music at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand." The Brigands play Sunday from 10 to 11 a.m. and again during the dog parade.

Dewey Beer Co., the Chamber's 2025 Business of the Year, is grand marshal. The Sea Witch Clipper Ship follows.

The city posted its own Sea Witch closure notice on October 7. It confirms the Saturday closure from 2 a.m. until the fencing is removed, around 4 p.m., and lists the side streets closed for parade lineup. The Chamber's Sea Witch parking page adds that parking isn't allowed on 4th Street or parts of 5th, Sussex and Kent Streets during the festival. Police can ticket or tow, and towed cars go to Coastal Towing at 33012 Cedar Grove Road in Lewes. If you live within a few blocks of the Avenue, move your car Friday night.

The Bandstand area looks a little different this year

Sea Witch adds something new around the Bandstand this year. The Community Fair is the Chamber's first, so Friday has its own program for the first time, aimed at local organizations rather than costumes.

The area has changed since last October, too. Cape Gazette reported in May that nearly 70 bollards and two swing gates had gone in around the Bandstand and Boardwalk. The $1.3 million project was described as phase one of a larger security plan. Saturday's parade loop and Sunday's dog-parade awards both run through that area.

At the ocean end of the Avenue, the former Dolle's site is still pending. The site plan the city approved for the One Rehoboth hotel calls for 60 rooms, a pool and a large amount of retail. The developers have since filed a new proposal: 48 rooms, no pool, no meeting space, less retail and no underground parking. In January, demolition of the remaining Dolle's and Kohr Bros. buildings was pushed back to September 2026. By August 28, Cape Gazette reported that the redesign had won a variance but still needed new Planning Commission approvals, with no clear timeline. The city's Sea Witch notice covers parade operations only and says nothing about construction near the Bandstand.

The film festival has Rehoboth's name and shows every film in Lewes

The film festival moves the action north. The 28th annual Rehoboth Beach International Film Festival runs November 1–8, with 113 films from more than 32 countries. The Rehoboth Beach Film Society's venue list puts every screening and the festival hub in Lewes. The ticketed parties are in Rehoboth and Dewey Beach.

The Film Society lists free parking at all festival sites. For a Rehoboth resident, a festival day means driving to Lewes. A full day of films means planning meals in Lewes too, unless you come back for one of the evening parties in town.

The weeks between the weekends

Between the festivals, other fall activities fill the gaps, and some of them are moving north too. Eden closed its longtime Baltimore Avenue location on New Year's Eve and reopened on Route 1 in the former Red, White & Basil space. Its new address is 20200 Coastal Highway, near the Rehoboth Avenue intersection. The Chamber's Scarecrow Trail runs all of October, with numbered displays in Dewey, downtown Rehoboth and along Route 1. Winners are announced in November.

Downtown still has new places. Ledo Pizza opened at 47A Rehoboth Avenue in the former Five Guys space, Cape Gazette reported October 7. JAM Bistro was reported open again in July at 305 Rehoboth Avenue, in the former Coho's/Grub space. On Sea Witch Saturday, its lot is the parade's registration point. That July report also listed new shops: Sunshine and Saltwater beside Rigby's, and Lazy Dog Beach Club in the former White House Black Market space at First Street Station.

The Rehoboth Art League is showing "Beyond the Walls," works from the Delaware Prison Arts Program, at Paynters Studio through November 1. The show closes the day the film festival opens, so this is a good weekend for a stop at Paynters before your Lewes plans begin.

Thinking about how close you'd like to be to the parade route, or to the theaters in Lewes? At Chris Jett, we've followed the shore through many festival seasons and know which streets close on Sea Witch Saturday. We're glad to talk you through Rehoboth's blocks, or the drive up Route 1, whenever you're ready. Discover Your Perfect Beach Home.