Old Home Week

Old Home Week is a practice that originated in the New England region of the United States similar to a holiday or festival. In its beginning in the 19th-20th century it involved a municipal effort to invite former residents of a village, town, or city - usually individuals who grew up in the municipality as children and moved elsewhere in adulthood - to visit the "Old Home", the parental household and home town.

In the late 20th and 21st century the practice has spread to other parts of North America and has become a broader celebration with an emphasis on local culture and history. From the Wilmington, Vermont town web site:

Old Home Week is a town event held every 10 years. It is best described as a town reunion, a celebration of Wilmington's citizens, past, present and future, and a honoring of its history. Events traditionally include a parade, a town dinner, class and family reunions and tours of local points of interest. …Old Home Week is a decennial celebration and gathering of friends and acquaintances, all sharing the common experience of having resided and/or attended school, in Wilmington. It is also a celebration for all those who now live in and love their town. Nobody is an outsider during Old Home Week.

External links

• Annals of Old Home Week 1901, for Pittsfield, New Hampshire
• Galluzzo, John (2006). The Golden Age of Hull: Old Home Week, Neighbors and Gala Days. The History Press. ISBN 1596291087.
• Old Home Week a 1907 poem by James Ball Naylor with illustrations and photographs of Boston expressing the sentiments of Old Home Week