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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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Spring Celebration ushers events

(March 26, 2015) Next week’s Spring Celebration in Berlin will mark the beginning of a busy season of concerts, food festivals, quirky competitions and a bookend pair of car shows.
As for the town’s 20th annual Spring Celebration itself, it will take place on Saturday, April 4, on Main Street.
Economic Development Director Ivy Wells said this year’s theme came to her in a coincidence of anniversaries.
“It’s our 20th anniversary and it’s also the 150th anniversary of ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass,’ the book,” she said. “We decided, instead of what we usually do, we wanted to make it cooler this year.”
Expect the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland in place of the Easter Bunny, Mayor Gee Williams in the role of the Mad Hatter, and the infamous vanishing grin of the Cheshire Cat popping up throughout the Victorian architecture of downtown Berlin.
“The whole town will be decorated as if you walked into Wonderland, with papier-mâché flowers from Autumn [Kramer] from Bleached Butterfly, and smiles from the Cheshire Cat everywhere.” Wells said. “Hopefully, people will dress up in costume.”
If they do, they will receive a gift upon reporting to the town’s Visitor’s Center on Main Street.
Wells said the event is geared towards children, complete with games outside of the boutique shops and an Easter egg hunt on the lawn at 13 South Main Street slated for 11 a.m.
Costumed characters will parade down Main Street from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a cupcake eating contest will be held at Cupcakes in Bloom on 120 North Main Street at 1 p.m.
Lawn games will follow at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum from 2-3 p.m. Williams will pass out “shiny new quarters” from 2-3 p.m., and the event concludes with the “Crazy, Enchanted, Magical Hat Parade” from 3-4 p.m.
The town will award trophies for best hat, best costume and “Cupcake Champion” in front of the Atlantic Hotel at 4 p.m.
Wells said she and her team are working to put together a strong schedule of events in Berlin, including the recent booking of Baltimore act Kelly Bell Band to headline the Cool Berlin Party on April 18. The group was originally conceived as a backing band for blues legend Bo Diddley.
The Berlin Heritage Festival will return on April 25, followed by May Day Play Day on May 8, Spring Cruisers on May 16 and the Memorial Day Parade on Flower Street on May 25.
June events in Berlin will include the High Heel Race and AGH Health Fair on June 5 and the Jazz and Blues Festival on June 6.
The town will hold its annual Bathtub Races on July 17, followed by the Peach Festival on Aug. 1 and the Miss and Mr. Peach Pageant on Aug. 14.
The following month will see the return of the Fiddler’s Convention Sept. 18-20, with Paint Berlin running Sept. 17-19.
Fall Cruisers and Oktoberfest will take their bow on Oct. 10 and 17, respectively, and the year will conclude with Holiday Arts night on Nov. 27, the Christmas Parade on Dec. 3 and the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop on, naturally, Dec. 31.
Wells is aware that the event season can have a major impact on the bottom line of nearly every Berlin business, and she said she is not taking her planning duties lightly.
“Last year, as America’s Coolest Small Town, Berlin was brought into the limelight,” she said. “That was the first time a lot of people even heard about Berlin. This year, I think, is the chance for us to prove it why we’re the coolest.”