Patriots Day
April 19th: the most important day of the year in Concord, Massachusetts. Events in Concord include a parade with lots of fife-and-drum bands and groups of Minutemen from surrounding towns and as far away as Michigan. The battle at the North Bridge is reenacted.
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Patriots Day parade in Concord.
On April 19, 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles at Lexington and Concord between British Regulr troops—“Redcoats”—and colonial Minutemen and militias.
Redcoat column advances from Lexington to Concord.
Patriots Day, the Monday nearest April 19th, is a public holiday in Massachusetts and Maine. All Massachusetts state, county and town government offices, libraries, and some local businesses close, though federal government offices, post offices, offices of large interstate and international companies, and most shops remain open.
Loading the brass cannon...
The parade is followed by a re-enactment of the battle at Old North Bridge, commemorative ceremonies, and the repeated firing of brass cannons by the Concord Independent Battery.
The Redcoats retreat across Old North Bridge.
The Minutemen pursue them.
Everybody fires!
Brass cannon fires! Babies cry! Adults cheer!
Pancakes for the multitudes!
