Rockwall marks 172nd birthday with Founders Day festival downtown, at Harry Myers Park

Downtown Rockwall will again become the center of the city’s birthday celebration as Founders Day marks Rockwall’s 172nd year on Saturday, May 16. The free, family-friendly festival, presented by Hiley Chevrolet of Rockwall, will stretch from the historic downtown square to Harry Myers Park, turning the city’s annual birthday into a full-day ritual of local music, small-business traffic, and neighborhood pride.

The day will start downtown at the Rockwall Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to noon, followed at 11 a.m. by The Founders Garden in San Jacinto Square, where Rockwall County Master Gardeners will offer an interactive garden experience. From noon to 4 p.m., the Downtown Rockwall Wine Walk will bring another wave of foot traffic to the core of the city, with glass purchase available in San Jacinto Square. The downtown schedule gives local shops and restaurants a rare midday boost before the celebration shifts east to the park.

Harry Myers Park will take over the festival rhythm from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with bounce houses, live animal shows, a vendor market and a food court featuring local trucks. A new vendor fair, running from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., will spotlight makers, sellers, nonprofit groups and community organizations. City materials say the fair will cost $50 for a 10-by-10 space, with up to two spaces allowed per group, giving small businesses and civic groups a direct way to reach festival crowds.

Music will anchor the evening. Billie Jo Jones is scheduled to perform at 5:30 p.m., followed by Randy Houser at 6:45 p.m. and the Randy Rogers Band at 8:30 p.m. City newsletter materials describe Houser and the Randy Rogers Band as co-headliners, a pairing that keeps Rockwall’s reputation as the Free Live Music Capital of North Texas in the spotlight.

Families will also have a practical way to move between venues. The city plans free shuttle and trolley service from noon until 11 p.m., with pickup points at Wilkerson Sanders Football Stadium, Herman E. Utley Middle School, Rockwall High School and The Center at Rockwall Cityplace. ADA parking will be available at the east entrance to Harry Myers Park, and the city’s parking map notes additional parking options, including some free lots and paid parking across from the park.

Founders Day has become more than a festival in Rockwall. City history materials say the town was platted on April 17, 1854 and named after a rock formation discovered by T.U. Wade, a detail that still shapes the city’s identity more than a century and a half later. The event’s scale also keeps growing, with an estimated 7,500 people attending the 2024 celebration and the 2025 birthday festival carrying the same downtown-to-park format into another year of civic tradition.