Meredosia May Days draws crowds, boosts pageant participation in Boyd Park

Hundreds filled Boyd Park for the second annual Meredosia May Days Festival, and organizers said the biggest sign of momentum came before the parade even started: Friday night’s pageant nearly doubled its contestant count in each category from the first year.

The 2026 royalty reflected that growth, with Jameson Dunaway named Little Mister, Everly Berghaus crowned Little Miss, Everly Sanders chosen Junior Miss and Channing Winningham taking the Queen title. The pageant was held at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Meredosia-Chambersburg High School gym, giving the festival a formal kickoff before Saturday’s full slate of events at Boyd Park.

By Saturday morning, the park had turned into a steady stream of family activity. The flea market opened at 9 a.m., the parade stepped off at 10:30 a.m., and food vendors were serving by 11 a.m. That same hour brought bubbles and chalk, a petting zoo, and free kids rides and bounce house access that ran through 8 p.m. A beer tent operated from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., while live music from Jukebox Reloaded and The Brandy Kristin Band filled out the afternoon and evening.

For a village the size of Meredosia, the mix matters. It keeps families on site longer, gives local vendors and food sellers more foot traffic, and creates a weekend that feels bigger than a single event. It also gave the festival a civic edge, with the village coordinating street blockages for May Days on May 2 and helping frame the gathering as a townwide occasion rather than just a park event.

The festival carried a deeper purpose, too. Organizers said May Days doubled as a fundraiser for a local family displaced by an April 21 house fire, turning a spring celebration into direct help for neighbors starting over. That connection gave the crowds at Boyd Park a more immediate meaning, especially in a community where public events can still become a practical form of support.

Meredosia’s long history adds to that sense of place. Established in 1832, the village was once an important commercial center on the Illinois River, and its story includes French settlers, a railroad and a pearl button industry. In that setting, a crowded Boyd Park on a May weekend looked less like a one-off celebration and more like a tradition starting to take root.