DOVER — The 83rd Annual Dover Days Festival presented by WSFS Bank, which will take place Friday, May 6 to Sunday, May 8.

The free-admission festival features more than 100 fun and educational events scheduled throughout the weekend for people of all ages, and takes place throughout historic downtown district. The festival is produced each year by Kent County Tourism Corporation.

The schedule starts off with fireworks and a live performance by the band 33 1/3 on Friday.

In addition to the Dover Days parade and Maypole dancing on Saturday, the event will feature Revolutionary and Civil War re-enactment groups, 350-plus crafts, food and artisan vendors, “History, Heritage and Hops” brewfest and more.

Among the activities for Sunday will be a classic car show and an 18th century historical cricket game, which was Colonial America’s favorite pastime – before baseball and football.

This year’s festival theme is “Preservation” and is tied to the commemoration of 50 Years of The National Historic Preservation Act.

The purpose of Preservation 50 is to commemorate, on a national, local and state level, the importance of historic preservation, to learn more about the first 50 years of historic preservation and to engage the public in a dialogue about the value and importance of historic preservation in our nation’s future

In honor of the theme, the festival will hold a Preservation 50 Workshop at the Smyrna Opera House on Saturday, April 30.

The educational sessions will be led by noted historic preservation educators and professionals. The daylong workshop will cover topics ranging from state and federal historic tax credits to the National Register of Historic Places to practical preservation activities such as historic window care, mortar and roofing, and historic paint analysis.

People can register to attend the workshop by visiting www.visitdover.com. The cost to attend is $20.

A full schedule of Dover Days festival activities can be found by visiting www.doverdaysfestival.com.