Jazz Funeral | Bethany Beach, Delaware

You are invited to attend our “End of Summer Celebration.” The Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral is celebrated each Labor Day Monday beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the North end of the Bethany Beach Boardwalk. This "quirky" Jazz Funeral tradition is family-friendly, free to the public, and you can even dress in costume for the occasion.

The combined forces of three bands, including the Dixie Cats, the Downtown Dixieland Band, and the Jazz Funeral Irregulars, provide the entertainment. These New Orleans-style Dixieland Bands help Bethany bid a "Fond Farewell to Summer" and are part of the procession that carries a casket with a mannequin representing "Summer" to its final resting place at the Boardwalk Bandstand.

Those who attend the Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral will see a gathering of mourners -- some draped in black shrouds, some donning dark sunglasses, some dressed in full comedic costume, some carrying flowers and reeds, and others twirling oversized umbrellas -- all

sobbing as they shuffle along the Bethany Boardwalk from the North end toward the town's bandstand at the center of the Boardwalk. These "Friends of Summer" have mourned the passing of the summer tourist season at the "Quiet Resort" of Bethany Beach since 1985.

You are also invited to attend the Bethany Beach Jazz Funeral Silent Auction held the Friday before Labor Day at Bethany Blues Restaurant at 6 N. Pennsylvania Ave. at 3 p.m. to help raise funds for five local charities.