WILMINGTON – Once again Rockwood Park & Museum is hosting New Castle County’s quintessential summer festival featuring nearly all of the best parts of summer in one place. Visit the festival on June 25 from 1 – 9 p.m. for the best local ice cream, fantastic food trucks, family train and carnival games, kids’ DJ, family entertainment stage, 30+ Maker Marketplace vendors, museum tours, local music stage, Wilmington Brew Works beer tent presented by the Rockwood Park Preservation Society, fireworks, and more.
“This is the event of the summer in New Castle County,” said New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer. “This is a County tradition that we are excited to bring back to the people of New Castle County, and we’re looking forward to them enjoying the music, activities, crafts, and of course, the ice cream.”
“We are so excited the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival is back in full force this year after holding a modified event in 2021,” said Community Resources division manager Jane Rattenni “This is our premier community event, and we love seeing County residents and visitors enjoying all the festival has to offer, including a fireworks display.”
The Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival is really five festivals in one: local food festival, local music festival, craft festival, family fun festival, and community festival. Exciting fireworks top it all off, as well as kicking off July 4th celebrations. Festival tickets are only $5 with kids 12 and under FREE with adult admission.
The festival is going paperless this year exclusively using Ticket Spicket to sell digital tickets. These tickets can be purchased in advance or at the gate using a smartphone. Cash payments will not be accepted at the gate. You can buy tickets now, and throughout the festival at https://www.tinyurl.com/ICFtix2022.
As always, all parking is off-site at the Rockwood Office Park with regular shuttles. Additional remote parking will open at 5 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School to make room for fireworks spectators.
Canceled due to the pandemic in 2020, the festival returned in 2021 at half capacity with no carnival games, fireworks, or family activities. This year the festival is bringing it all back as well as adding a top-notch family entertainment stage. In 2019 the festival welcomed over 7,000 people. More than 3,000 came out in 2021 despite COVID and torrential rain. This year we expect to welcome around 7,000 festivalgoers.
The festival is made possible by New Castle County as well as our generous donor partners Capano Management presenting the Zambelli fireworks show, WSFS Bank, Christiana Care, Dart First State, Vandemark & Lynch, media sponsor Mix 99.5 WJBR, as well as CSC, Highmark Delaware, CBRE, Mosquito Ranger, and Rockwood Park Preservation Society. Proceeds from the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival help to support Rockwood Museum and Park.
We are also looking for volunteers, with a big benefit being free admission to the festival. Visit https://www.newcastlede.gov/517/Volunteer-Opportunities for more information on volunteering for New Castle County special events.
2022 Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival Details
- Rockwood Park & Museum
- June 25, 2022
- 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
- Fireworks at dusk
- Remote parking with shuttle from Rockwood Office Park and
Mount Pleasant High School (opening at 5 p.m.)
Ice Cream and Sweet Treat Vendors
- Ice Cream Shoppe
- Woodside Farms Creamery
- UDairy Creamery
- Paleteria Y Neveria Tocumbo
- Cup'r Cone
- Kona Ice
- Marvelicious Water Ice
- Dino's Water Ice
- Cinnamon Bun Exchange
- Madi LLC Carnival Treats
- Crossan Kettle Corn
- Auntie Anne’s Pretzels
Food and Beverage
- Burgers by Wildwich
- Top 5 BBQ
- Delaware Provisions
- Bristow Live Fire Pizza
- Mitch's Mo Better Chicken
- Ole Tapas
- Maddy's Kitchen
- Wilmington Brew Works Beer Garden presented by Rockwood Park Preservation Society
Local Music Lineup
- 1:30 Hot Breakfast!
- 3:00 Nic Snow
- 4:30 Frantastic Noise
- 6:00 Bickel Brothers
- 7:30 Universal Funk Order
Family Entertainment Stage
- 2:00 Magic Show with Ran'D Shine
- 3:00 Hula Hoop with Lois
- 4:00 Bubble Show with Jennifer Shannon
- 5:00 Dancing with Fierce Dance Academy
- 6:00 Reptile Show with Jungle John
- 7:00 Balloon Show with Jungle John
Kid Zones
- Center for the Creative Arts
- Delaware Museum of Nature & Science
- First State Ballet
- Mr. Joyner Entertainment Kids DJ
- Elevation Science Fossils and more
- Party Business Face Painting and Sand Art
- Carnival Games
- Garden Train
- Delaware Children's Museum
- Moon Bounces
Fun with History and More
- Rockwood Museum
- Air Mobility Command Museum
- Hale-Byrnes House
- Faithful Friends
Maker Marketplace with 30+ Local Artisans and more
- ARW Design Co
- Avalon Days
- Billy T’s Natural Foods LLC
- Beauty Barrettes
- BoBiddle Cards and Creation
- Cindy’s Crafts
- Creative Cutting Maven
- Dear Anna Designs
- Fusion Tasters Choice
- Gigi and Cat
- Hammer and Needle Heirlooms
- HandiCraftsbyEyeAsia
- Home made crafts for you from Mary
- JillDaisyCrochet
- Julieta Zavala/sewing and design
- Junior’s Favorite Dog Treats
- Little Deharts Creations
- LLB Tie Dyes
- Megan’s Creations
- Moore Candles Please & Something yoonek
- Needful Reminders
- PC Crafts
- Pierpont’s Creations
- Precious Sudz
- Randalia Honey
- Rivers Edge Driftwood
- She So Crafty
- Shirley Ellison
- Solace Vibes
- SonRise Stitching
- Sundyes.good.vibes
- Sylvia Dale Collection
- The Kitchen Cupboard
- The Lonely Art
- Tracey Damiani
- Tuloh’s Nest
- Virtuous Body Scrubs
- Walls with Intrigue
Festival FAQ
TICKETS: Event tickets must be purchased online from Ticket Spicket at www.tinyurl.com/ICFtix2022. This can be done in advance or at the gate on your smartphone. No cash will be accepted at the gate.
PARKING: All parking, including handicap parking, will be at the Rockwood Office Park, 501 Carr Road, Wilmington, for the duration of the event with quick shuttle bus rides to the festival. Busses equipped with lifts will be available for visitors with wheelchairs and large strollers. Parking at Mount Pleasant High School, 5201 Washington Street Extension, Wilmington will open at 5 p.m.