Discover the stories behind America’s revolutionary past and how they relate to your experiences today by visiting the American Independence Museum.

Festival Sponsorship

We welcome local business to assist us by sponsoring our event. All sponsorship categories ensure that we are able to execute on this popular event which reaches families and children from a 50-mile radius of Exeter while also welcoming out of town tourists who comprise approximately 30% of our 6,000+ attendance for the day. For Sponsorship level information, please click here. If you are interested to Sponsor us, please use this form or contact us

Festival Volunteers

Critical to the success of our Festival are volunteers who staff various event sites/venues on the day of the event. Please set aside July 20th to help us make the day unforgettable! If you have volunteered in the past, welcome back. If this would be your first time, we would love to have you join us. You may wish to volunteer for a full day (9:15-5) or a ½day (9:15-1 or 1-5).

No previous experience necessary. A short orientation will be held before the Festival day. Click here for a volunteer application, or contact us at info@IndependenceMuseum.org . We also have opportunities for companies interested in sending employees for the day.

About the Festival

On the night of July 4, 1776, Philadelphia printer John Dunlap slaved over his printing press, turning Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten pages into 200 posters that were then sent off to the King of England and the colonies via horseback and coach. New Hampshire’s copy arrived in Exeter, the Revolutionary-era capitol, on July 16, 1776. Twenty-two year old John Taylor Gilman put his life on the line as he read the Declaration of Independence to the townspeople of Exeter.

Help us celebrate America’s freedom with our popular festival! Join the crowd escorting George Washington down Water Street, see the horseback delivery of the Declaration and listen to the public reading (complete with hecklers!), chat with historic role-players, step to the stirring music of the Lincoln Fife and Drum and delight in the maneuvers and cannon firings of militias. Visit the Traditional New Hampshire artisans’ village, view the original Dunlap Broadside (one of 26 known copies in the world) and early drafts of the U.S. Constitution and stroll Swasey Parkway and Water Street to see local arts and crafts. Enjoy plenty of food, music, sidewalk sales and children’s activities, then stay for the town’s evening fireworks and live band!

For more information about the Festival, please Email us