After a one year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Castle County Ice Cream Festival returned to Rockwood Park after nearly being cancelled for a second year.

WILMINGTON (DE) BY GEORGE SHEA: What’s the best thing to have in your hand during a hot summer day? An ice cream cone! That’s really what the Rockwood Ice Cream Festival is all about and so much more, like a farmers market, live music from local artists like Nic Snow, The Bickel Brothers, and The Best Kept Soul (just to name a few), beer garden, and more importantly COVID-19 vaccines. In fact, if you got vaccinated, you got a free ice cream cone.

The annual New Castle County Ice Cream Festival was getting underway at Rockwood Park and Museum around 9:00 a.m. Saturday, and after a one year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it almost got cancelled once again due to the threat of rain, but New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said, “We were not going to cancel it as long as it was safe for people to be here.” 

Meyer added, “We’re only here, we’re only really here because so many of you have gone out and gotten the vaccine.”

The Ice Cream Shoppe in Belfonte, was hosting the free ice cream with vaccination. They have some amazing flavors and a great friendly staff. They not only serve ice cream but a lot of your ball park favorites too – like soft pretzels, hot dogs, sausages, water ice, and even soup.

Did you know they even make their own sugar cones? We watched the amazing process with Susan Melord, who co-owns the Ice Cream Shoppe with her husband, Alex Melord.

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Alex said they have been coming to the festival for eight of the ten years they have been in business. Family owned, they are located on Philadelphia Pike so make sure to visit them at the Ice Cream Shoppe.

While mom and dad browsed the farmers market, live music from Nic Snow got underway. An amazing artist with great music and vibes too. Nic will electrify you with an emotional performance and will be sure to draw you into his world of music. Check out Nic and his future performances over the summer here.

There was over 12 food truck vendors offering up some of the best eats at this year’s festival, and while the crowd may not of been what it was in previous years, it was still a great day to be out with your family and friends enjoying a day full of fun and ice cream!

You can learn more about this summer’s New Castle County happenings here!