DE PERE (NBC 26) — In De Pere, the annual Celebrate De Pere Memorial Day tradition is back once again.
Brandon Beard is one of the organizers of the event and says he's been involved for almost 20 years and the event has changed over the past couple years.
"We really wanted to bring it back down to a community event," Beard said. "With local acts, local bands. We used to have some big headliners. But what we recognized is that the community really wants is a place to come and celebrate memorial day."
Beard said that with it being Memorial Day weekend, it's a perfect way to highlight our nation's veterans.
"It gives an opportunity for a lot of the veterans to come down and meet each other and celebrate each other,and hang out with each other," Beard said. "There's a lot of guys and gals that this is the one place that they meet every single year."
WATCH JACK PORTER'S FULL BROADCAST STORY HERE...
Julie Armstrong is from Oconto and says her and her grandkids love going to Celebrate De Pere. Random luck made it a family tradition.
"We came upon Celebrate De Pere by accident," Armstrong said. "We had come to Voyageur Park one other time, and it's such a beautiful park. And, one Memorial Day weekend, we said, 'Hey let's go back to that park.'"
Ever since, Armstrong and her grandkids have gone to Celebrate De Pere for the last five years in a row.
Armstrong says the memories make it all worth it.
"Each time I get to be with my family they are all favorite memories. Just watching them grow, from the rides to the music," Armstrong said.
Some festival goers say that even though it's just day one, they will be back every single day to check out everything the festival has to offer.
