108 years of fun at the Big Glen Burnie Carnival

The Big Glen Burnie Carnival has been earning its name for 108 years. It may not be northern Anne Arundel County’s proudest 20th-century legacy, but it’s got to be the most fun.

Tonight through Aug. 6 in back of the Glen Burnie Improvement Association building on Crain Highway, carnivalgoers will enjoy all sorts of rides, games and food. Proceeds benefit projects supported by the GBIA, which put on the first carnival back in 1908.

The goals for those early carnivals appear to have been practical, if modest. “The improvement association of Glen Burnie will open a carnival tonight,” read an article in the Aug. 31, 1909, editions of The Baltimore Sun, “to raise funds for modern sidewalks.” (The first carnival had raised $220, which went toward installing sidewalks along Crain Highway.)

By 1912, the tradition was firmly established. Glen Burnie’s “greatest four-day carnival ... opened last night, with the inhabitants and the neighbors from miles around present to take part.” Events included a jousting tournament, “Baby Show” and a costume carnival. “These carnival weeks have become the chief event of Glenburnie and … have united the community in pride and ambition and have made it a home place,” The Sun reported Aug. 28.

The following year, 1913, “there were fully 3,000 persons on the grounds and it was said to be the most enthusiastic outdoor event in recent years in that section,” The Sun reported Aug. 16.