Memorial Day Weekend 2024: 4 Things To Do Around Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The upcoming Memorial Day service in Ocean City is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

The Memorial Day Service at Veteran's Memorial Park at 11 a.m. on May 27 is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

• Memorial Beach Challenge for 31 Heroes: The main obstacle course challenge is a soft sand adventure race followed by our kid’s fun run. Staging is at 9th St. Beach on May 25. Find more info here.
• National Moment of Remembrance: Stop what you're doing on the Boardwalk at 3 p.m. on May 27 for one full minute to pay tribute to those who lost their lives for their country.

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Ocean City cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer in Ocean City. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Unlocking of the Ocean and Business Persons Plunge: Participants dress in business suits, carry brief cases and march into the ocean to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance to welcome the new season. Starts at 12 p.m. on May 24 at Moorlyn Terrace St. Beach.
• Beaches start being guarded in Ocean City during Memorial Day Weekend, but as of Monday the hours and beaches have not been posted yet. You can find them posted here by May 22.

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.