Wayland will come alive on Saturday, Oct. 4 (rain date: October 5) as the Wayland Festival fills Town Center with a day of parades, performances, art, food and community fun. This year combines three traditions — the Multicultural Festival, the Arts Wayland Expo, and Touch a Truck — with a special 250th anniversary parade honoring America’s semiquincentennial.
The Wayland Multicultural Festival was launched in 2022 by the HRDEI Committee and has quickly become a cornerstone of the community calendar. “This event is about bringing everyone together,” said co-founder Yamini Ranjan. The expanded 2025 format — arts, history, culture and family fun — marks a new chapter in that tradition. For full schedules, maps, and updates, visit tinyurl.com/WAYFEST.
Morning highlights
The day kicks off at 10 a.m. with Touch a Truck, hosted by the Wayland Recreation Department. Children can climb aboard more than 40 vehicles—from fire engines, ambulances, and police cruisers to construction equipment, buses, delivery trucks, and even antique cars. Touch a Truck runs until 2 p.m.
At 10:30 a.m., the highly anticipated 250th parade steps off from Andrew Avenue, winds along Elissa and Andrew, and concludes on the Town Green. Leading the procession will be the Wayland High School Marching Band, followed by Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Wayland Chinese American Association with dragon and lion dancers, the Egyptian Orthodox Coptic Church, and reenactors from Sudbury’s Fife and Drum Corps and Minute Men Militia, who will fire muskets and set up a historic encampment.
Food trucks and vendors will be on-site all day — Chocolate Therapy, Uncle Joey’s Cannoli, ZAZ Restaurant, The Grub Guru, Sabrosa Venezuela, Luxor Café, The Villa Restaurant, Craft brews from Winch & Pulley Beer Co.
Festivalgoers should be sure to stop by the Wayland Post/The Villa booth. The Villa has generously donated pizza and subs, making their tent one of the most welcoming food stops of the day. What better way to spend your Saturday than enjoying great music, art and community — all with a slice of pizza from The Villa in hand?
Music and performances
From noon to 6:00 p.m., the Town Green becomes a performance stage. The schedule includes:
WHS Honors Jazz Ensemble conducted by Joseph Oneschuk
Drum Nomads
Taiwanese folk dance
Beijing Opera
Harmonica and Rhythm Bones
Egyptian music
Chris Nifong Project
Sway Island
Dalila
Roger Weigand organ performance
…And headlining the evening, the Dwayne Haggins Band
Festivalgoers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.
Throughout the day, streets will be lined with more than 30 artists and artisans selling jewelry, textiles, and fine art, including work by local favorites Alice Lau, Stephanie James and Frank Shear.
Civic groups and town committees will host information booths, including the League of Women Voters, the Rotary Club of Weston and Wayland, the Wayland Garden Club, the Wayland Public Library, and the Human Rights, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Multicultural exhibitors will offer cultural displays and activities from groups such as the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association, Wayland Muslim Neighbors and the Islamic Center of Boston.
