Things to Do in Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Beach has an unusually well-documented set of named attractions for a town this size: a one-mile boardwalk dating to 1873, a family amusement park that has run continuously since 1962, a nearly century-old taffy maker, a free open-air bandstand going back to 1963, a year-round professional theater company, three real named fall festivals, a rail-trail out to Lewes, a large tax-free outlet corridor, and a state park next door with genuine World War II coastal-defense history. That combination gives a small resort real depth across seasons and ages. Here is what is confirmed about each, without inventing current hours, ticket prices, or festival dates -- all of which change and should be checked directly.
The Boardwalk: Funland, Dolle’s, and Thrasher’s
Rehoboth Beach's one-mile boardwalk dates to 1873, built in the same founding era as the town, and it remains the spine almost everything else sits along. At its center is Funland, the family-owned amusement park run by the Fasnacht family since 1962 -- more than six decades of rides, games, and arcade culture on the same oceanfront, including the well-known derby horse-racing game. The boardwalk's food landmarks are older still: Dolle's Candyland, a Rehoboth taffy and confection maker established in 1926, has anchored the Rehoboth Avenue corner for generations, and Thrasher's French Fries is a decades-old boardwalk staple that sells its fries by the bucket with vinegar.
These are durable institutions, but the changeable details are not reproduced here. Funland's current-season hours, ride lineup, and ride-card pricing shift every year; the famous Dolle's rooftop sign has been the subject of relocation news, so do not assume its exact current placement. Check Funland's own site and the boardwalk businesses directly before planning around specifics.
The Bandstand and Clear Space Theatre: Free and Professional Performances
The Rehoboth Beach Bandstand is a free, open-air venue that has hosted live performances since 1963, bringing dozens of acts across a season -- a long-running, low-cost entertainment tradition rather than a one-off concert series. For a seated, professional production instead, Clear Space Theatre Company stages a year-round season of plays and musicals in town, a level of ongoing professional theater that is uncommon in a resort town this small. Together they give the town both a casual free option and a genuine performing-arts anchor.
Current Bandstand schedules and Clear Space's current season lineup, showtimes, and ticket prices were not reproduced this pass -- both organizations publish their own current calendars, which are the right place to check before making plans.
The Fall Festivals: Sea Witch, the Film Festival, and Autumn Jazz
Rehoboth hosts three real annual events beyond peak summer: the Sea Witch Festival (a costumed, Halloween-season fall festival), the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, and the Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival. Together they extend the visitor season well past Labor Day and give the town a shoulder-season identity a lot of nearby beach towns lack -- a costumed festival, an independent film program, and a dedicated jazz weekend, each with its own following.
We are not citing specific dates, ticket prices, or lineups for any of the three, since organizers set and adjust those annually. Confirm current dates and programming directly with each festival's own organizer before booking travel around one.
Beyond the Boardwalk: The Trail, the Farmers’ Market, the Outlets, and the Original Brewpub
Off the boardwalk, the Junction and Breakwater Trail is a roughly six-mile rail-trail connecting Rehoboth Beach to Lewes along a former railroad corridor -- a flat, multi-use path for walking or biking that gets you away from beach traffic entirely. In season, the Rehoboth Beach Farmers' Market runs a weekly market at Grove Park, the green at the lighthouse circle behind the chamber's visitor center. In the other direction, the Tanger Outlets operate a large tax-free retail corridor of outlet centers along Delaware Route 1 -- a genuinely big shopping draw for a town this size -- and Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, the original brewpub on Rehoboth Avenue, is the founding location of a brewery that grew into a nationally distributed brand.
Specific current trail conditions, market days and hours, outlet-store tenant lists, and the brewpub's current hours or menu change and are not reproduced here. Check Delaware's trail resources, the farmers' market's own site, Tanger's own directory, and Dogfish Head directly.
Cape Henlopen State Park: WWII History, a Fishing Pier, and North Shore Beach
Cape Henlopen State Park sits just north of town and adds real depth beyond a typical beach-adjacent park. World War II-era observation and fire-control towers were built here to help detect enemy submarines entering Delaware Bay, working in coordination with the coastal artillery of Fort Miles -- genuine home-front military history still standing and open to visitors. The park also holds a roughly quarter-mile fishing pier into Delaware Bay, trails, and North Shore Beach, a separate, quieter stretch of shoreline from the town's own main beach and boardwalk.
Current park hours, entrance fees, drive-on beach rules, and which specific towers or structures are open for interior tours change through the year and are not reproduced here. Delaware State Parks' own site is the right source for current access and programming. Taken together -- boardwalk institutions, a free bandstand and a year-round theater, a real fall festival calendar, a rail-trail, a farmers' market, tax-free outlets, and a state park with genuine WWII history -- Rehoboth offers a range of things to do that is unusually broad for a resort of about 1,108 year-round residents, and most of it stays open in some form well past the summer peak.
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Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. The one-mile boardwalk (1873), Funland (family-owned by the Fasnacht family, operating since 1962, including the derby horse-racing game), the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand (performances since 1963), Clear Space Theatre Company, the Sea Witch Festival, the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, the Rehoboth Beach Autumn Jazz Festival, the ~6-mile Junction and Breakwater Trail, the Tanger Outlets tax-free retail corridor on Route 1, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats' original Rehoboth Avenue brewpub, and Cape Henlopen State Park (WWII towers coordinating with Fort Miles, fishing pier, North Shore Beach) are drawn from Wikipedia's own Rehoboth Beach, Delaware entry, the Town of Rehoboth Beach's official history page, Delaware State Parks, and boardwalk-history coverage. Dolle's Candyland (established 1926) and Thrasher's French Fries are per boardwalk-history coverage; the Dolle's sign's exact current placement is flagged as changeable per WHYY reporting. The Rehoboth Beach Farmers' Market at Grove Park is per the market's own site. Current hours, admission fees, festival dates, market days, tenant lists, and tour or menu details were not reproduced this pass and should be confirmed directly with each venue, festival organizer, or Delaware State Parks. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, or financial advice.