For our first Carousel Family Day, families (or pods) can celebrate the Carousel's 100th birthday by creating their own carousel to take home, as well as decorating a birthday hat to wear and a birthday card for the carousel. Participants will also be able to watch as an outdoor mural is painted to celebrate the Carousel's 100th Anniversary.

Due to COVID-19 guidelines, space is limited and registration is required to reserve a time slot.

This is a FREE activity and open to all families (a donation of $10 per family is suggested but not required).

Join us to mark the opening of Glen Echo Park’s Dentzel carousel for its 100th Anniversary season! We will stream live from the carousel with government officials and other dignitaries to celebrate a local icon that has been a treasured part of the Park and the community for a century. The event includes a ceremonial first ride. Watch live here on our website! 

If COVID-19 restrictions allow, the carousel will open for the season with social-distancing guidelines in place and timed-entry tickets: $5/person for unlimited rides during a 2-hour time period. 

Join us online as we read The Carousel by Liz Rosenberg.

Two sisters remember their mother saying, "The carousel horses sleep all winter and wake in the spring." But one gray-skied February twilight, as the girls make their way home from school, they hear strange whinnying noises coming from the carousel in the park. Peeking inside the carousel canvas, the sisters step into the unknown. Could it be that the horses are moving . . . clopping their hooves . . . alive?

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us online as we read Up and Down on the Merry-Go-Round by Bill Martin Jr.

In this rhyming story that's perfect for reading aloud and along, children describe the sights and sounds of riding on the merry-go-round from atop the colorful menagerie of horses, elephants, and giraffes that carry them into imaginative adventures.

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us online as we read Harry the Carousel Horse by Karin Tetlow.

This is a rare children’s story that talks about emotions and the idea that we can have control over how we feel. Harry lives on a carousel on the Mall. He is unhappy because no children want to ride him and goes on a dream journey to find out why. On the way he meets different horses and finally finds Will, who helps him change how he feels. Will is an ancient horse who finds happiness by looking down on beautiful and mysterious crop circles. The book concludes with a Real Life Notes page with photographs of the horses, characters and places that inspired the story. They include the carousel horses on the Mall in Washington D.C., the bright gold statue of Joan of Arc in Philadelphia, a Medicine Hat horse belonging to a riding therapy program for disabled children, a beloved rocking horse ridden by a Philadelphia child, and the Alton Barnes white horse carved on an Wiltshire hillside near Stonehenge, England. Wiltshire is the most active area in the world for crop circles. For children ages 3 to 7 years old.

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us as we read Carousel by Donald Crews.

Choose your horse. Hold on tight. The music's starting and you're on your way!

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us as we read A Ride to Remember by Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan.

The true story of how a ride on a carousel made a powerful Civil Rights statement A Ride to Remember tells how a community came together--both black and white--to make a change. When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated, and African-American families were not allowed entry. This book reveals how in the summer of 1963, due to demonstrations and public protests, the Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Maryland became desegregated and opened to all for the first time. Co-author Sharon Langley was the first African-American child to ride the carousel. This was on the same day of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Langley's ride to remember demonstrated the possibilities of King's dream. This book includes photos of Sharon on the carousel, authors' notes, a timeline, and a bibliography.

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us as we read A Carousel Tale by Elisa Kleven.

Ernst loves the carousel near his house, and his favorite carousel animal is the dog. When the dog's wooden tail comes loose just before winter, Ernst is given the important job of keeping it safe until springtime. But the tail looks sad sitting on Ernst's shelf without its dog, and Ernst can't help but try to cheer it up. It isn't long before he has transformed the lonely tail into something wonderful. As spring approaches, Ernst wonders if he will have to give up his special creation. And if he doesn't, what will the poor dog have to wag? The imaginative crocodile from Ernst and The Puddle Pail shines once again in a story that children will treasure.

RSVP preferred, not required. 

RSVP

Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the carousel with NPS Ranger Kevin Patti. Learn about carousel history and fun facts about the carousel and Wurlitzer band organ. Watch the premiere on our YouTube channel on Friday, February 19 at 12:30pm.

Join us on February 18 at 12:30 pm for a LIVE launch event to kick off the Carousel 100th Anniversary Celebration! We will be live here on our website, on YouTube and on Facebook to tell you about the exciting activities and events we’ve planned for the months-long Carousel 100th Anniversary celebration.

We'll be live from the carousel building with Emcee Liz Dapo from the Puppet Co. and her sidekick (you’ll see when you tune in!), as well as Glen Echo Park Partnership Executive Director Katey Boerner and Partnership Board President Bonnie Casper. We will also have special messages from Senator Chris VanHollen, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Maryland Delegate Marc Korman, Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson, and other special guests!

Event will last about 20 minutes, so plan to join us for a Live Lunch Launch!