“Piping Out” Labor Day Musical Boardwalk Parade

A lost Rehoboth Beach historical tradition of “piping out” the summer on Labor Day with a joyous musical parade on the Boardwalk is being revived this year by the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society. 

Revelers with musical instruments of any and all varieties are asked to gather on the Boardwalk by 5:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 2, in front of the Henlopen Hotel, and the ensemble will then proceed to Pipe Out up the Boardwalk to the area in front of the Bandstand. The historical society is providing 40 kazoos for people without their own instruments. Band leader and trombonist Nick Nichols said, “It would be nice if everyone participating can contribute to ‘When the Saints go Marching In’ to get us started, but to be a true ‘piper’, getting into the spirit is more important than musical acumen.”

Piping Out is thought to have originated in the mid- to late-1950s by the late bandleader Sammy Ferro whose orchestra played for dances held at the old Henlopen Hotel. At the last dance of the summer on Labor Day, Ferro would take his band “to the boards” followed by his audience, and then lead a spontaneous musical parade down the Boardwalk to the vicinity of Dolle’s popcorn stand at Rehoboth Avenue. The tradition temporarily ended when the hotel was destroyed in the “Great Storm of 1962,” but was started up again when the new hotel was completed in the early 1970s.

While reservations are not needed, the society asks that potential participants call the Rehoboth Beach Museum at 302-227-7310 to let the society know and to reserve a kazoo.