June Feature: Jubilee Day - Mechanicsburg Celebrates 91st Anniversary

“Are you going to Jubilee Day?” is usually the question most people in Cumberland County and the surrounding region are asking right around the third week of June. The largest, longest one-day street fair on the East Coast attracts up to 70,000 people. County residents and visitors alike have lined Main and Market Streets in Mechanicsburg for the past 91 years. 

The idea for Jubilee Day goes back to 1923 when a group of local businessmen attended a town-wide celebration in Gettysburg. They were so impressed by what they saw they decided Mechanicsburg needed a fair of its own.

In 1928 it was moved to August so the celebration could coincide with the borough’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of incorporation. Almost 50 years later, Jubilee Day was held on July 1 to salute the Bicentennial. There was no Jubilee Day from 1940 to 1945 because of World War II and the need to ration fuel. Jubilee Day has been held rain or shine except for 1955.