World Famous Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums To Perform In Westfield

WESTFIELD, NJ — The world-famous Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums (MCV) based in the Boston, MA area, will perform a free outdoor public performance on Saturday, July 22 at 11 a.m. on the great lawn of the Westfield Town Hall in Westfield.

MCV will then continue their travels, giving another short performance in Somerville, later in the afternoon and then ending their trip in Philadelphia, PA to perform at the Museum of the American Revolution.

The MCV Fifes & Drums are visiting Westfield because Mayor Shelley Brindle, the Town Council and the Town of Westfield have recognized the Town’s role in the Revolutionary War and in the
historic troop march through Westfield on the way to Yorktown, VA.

"The Trail Administrator, Johnny F. Carawan of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, a unit of the National Park Service, decided to sponsor the colonial fifes and drums marching group’s performance in the spirit of celebrating the Town’s patriotic
enthusiasm in the run-up to America 250, the Semiquincentennial which will be celebrated in
2026," according to Julie Diddell, Chair for W3R-NJ.

The public is encouraged to bring a lawn chair or a blanket to sit on for the performance which
will last about 45 minutes.

The Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail, is the route that French and Continental
armies marched along on the way to conduct the siege of Yorktown, VA causing the British to
capitulate in the final campaign of the Revolutionary War.

President Barack Obama signed legislation in 2009 designating the 680-mile trail corridor across land and water, a national historic trail, a unit of the National Park Service.

It begins in Newport, RI, and passes through Connecticut, New York and New Jersey then continues through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC before ending in Yorktown, Virginia.

Primary source documents tell of the Continental Line column led by Major General Benjamin
Lincoln, passing through Westfield on August 29, 1781, as they marched to Yorktown, VA.

In 2019 Mayor Shelley Brindle signed a Proclamation announcing that every Aug. 29 Westfield
will celebrate as “March to Yorktown Day” in Westfield. This concert is a tie into that celebration.

The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route New Jersey (W3R-NJ) is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization and the state group for the National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association (W3R-US).

W3R-NJ’s mission it is to conduct the annual March to Yorktown Day commemoration events in Westfield every August and to work with history sites and historical societies in several other towns in New Jersey to commemorate their role in the march on the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail.

— Submitted by The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route New Jersey