Lynn, MA is getting its parade back.

The 2026 North Shore Veterans & First Responders Parade Committee of the Lynn Veterans Council is organizing the return of a beloved community tradition, with the event officially set for Sunday, September 20, 2026, at 1 p.m. A rain date of September 27 has also been established.

The last parade was held in 2018. COVID-19 brought the annual event to a halt, and the years since have seen the Lynn Veterans Council quietly working to rebuild the momentum needed to bring it back at scale.

This year, they’re going big.

Why 2026 Is the Right Year

Three major milestones converge on this event.

The parade will honor the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Global War on Terror. It will also celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States. And it will pay tribute to the veterans, firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and first responders who serve the North Shore every single day.

“From our firefighters, our police, our ambulance drivers, the first responders — we have that because of those people,” said Ward 1 City Councilor Peter Meaney, who serves as treasurer for the parade committee. “We want to give back on this. We want to put on the best parade the North Shore has ever seen.”

The Route and What to Expect

The parade will begin at North Shore Community College and proceed down Washington Street, turning onto Market Street and continuing through North Common Street, Franklin Street, Boston Street, and Stetson Street before finishing at the Manning Field parking lot.

Along the route, spectators can expect a lineup of military and civic vehicles, including a 40-ton World War II Sherman Tank, vehicles from the National Guard, and equipment from Lynn’s fire and police departments. The Greater Boston Bagpipe and Drum Corps will lead the procession.

Committee member and former Parade Grand Marshal David J. Solimine Sr. is slated to participate with his 1878 horse-drawn hearse — a stunning piece of history that has appeared in previous Lynn parades.

Family-Friendly and Community-Centered

The parade is designed to be an all-ages experience. Children will have the opportunity to see military and emergency vehicles up close at Manning Field after the march. Organizers emphasize that this event is about the entire community, not just veterans.

“It’s for the city of Lynn, and the whole North Shore,” said Lynn Veterans Council President Wayne Johnson. “We want to celebrate everybody.”

How You Can Support the Parade

The Lynn Veterans Council is entirely self-funded on this effort — no public dollars are involved. The committee estimates it needs approximately $100,000 to produce the event properly, accounting for the significant cost increases since 2018. Marching bands that cost around $1,100 in 2018, for example, now run closer to $2,600.

Donations of any amount are welcome. Donors of $1,000 or more will receive a certificate of recognition and two reserved seats in the review stand.

To donate, make a check payable to Lynn Veterans’ Council (for the 2026 parade) and mail it to:

Lynn Veterans’ Council, P.O. Box 8271, 245 Maple Street, Lynn, MA

For more information or to get involved, contact Council President Wayne Johnson at (781) 462-8888 or email [email protected].

Why It Matters

This parade represents more than a civic ceremony. It marks Lynn’s reemergence as a city that shows up for its heroes. After years of setbacks — a pandemic, rising costs, and organizational rebuilding — the Lynn Veterans Council has rallied elected officials, local businesses, and community members around a single day of recognition.

With three historic anniversaries colliding in 2026, September 20 in Lynn will be a day worth marking on your calendar now.

The post Lynn’s Veterans & First Responders Parade Returns in 2026 appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.

The project grew out of community meetings where residents voiced concerns about beach maintenance and the barriers to coastal access. In Lynn, where the waterfront is our backyard, these aren’t abstract concepts. The exhibit highlights local stories of resilience and the community’s call for coastal “mandates,” such as wetland restoration and circular product designs to strengthen our natural defenses.

For residents, this is a chance to see our city’s challenges reflected through the lens of world-class art. The show will remain on view for two months, providing a space for both policy-makers and neighbors to discuss how we can protect the Lynn Shore Drive we love for the generations to come.

The post “Bay State Without Beaches”: Art Meets Climate Reality at Lynn Museum appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.

Located less than four miles from downtown Boston, Lynn offers something that the surrounding suburbs and the city itself cannot always provide: affordability. Commercial rents in Lynn’s downtown and emerging waterfront districts remain substantially lower than comparable spaces in Cambridge, Somerville, or Boston proper, making the city an increasingly attractive option for small business owners, creative entrepreneurs, and light industrial tenants who need proximity to the metro area without the metro area price tag.

The Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Lynn (EDIC) has been the city’s primary engine for business attraction and retention for more than four decades. Its mandate is to transform the waterfront and downtown district into what it describes as ‘bustling, pedestrian-friendly destinations’ — a vision that has moved from aspiration to active construction in recent years. The EDIC provides financing to businesses operating within Lynn’s commercial districts, helps connect entrepreneurs with city and state resources, and works to recruit new tenants to high-potential spaces like the former J.B. Blood Building.

The North Shore Latino Business Association and organizations like EforAll Lynn and its Spanish-language counterpart EparaTodos Lynn have become important nodes in the city’s business support ecosystem. Given that Lynn’s business community is significantly shaped by immigrant entrepreneurs — a walk through downtown reveals storefronts in Spanish, Portuguese, Khmer, and several other languages — these organizations play a practical role in making resources accessible to business owners who might otherwise navigate city and state systems alone.

Lynn’s transportation infrastructure is a meaningful economic asset. The Lynn Commuter Rail station on the MBTA’s Newburyport/Rockport Line connects the city to North Station in Boston in roughly 30 minutes, making it viable for residents to live in Lynn and work in the city — or for businesses in Lynn to draw employees from across the region. Bus connections through the MBTA network extend that reach further.

The healthcare sector also anchors a portion of Lynn’s employment base. Lynn Community Health Center, which has seen expansion in recent years, serves as both a healthcare provider and a significant employer in a city where access to primary care has historically been uneven. Investment in the health center reflects a broader recognition that workforce health and community wellbeing are inseparable from economic development.

Looking ahead, the question for Lynn is not whether growth is coming — it clearly is — but whether the city can manage that growth in a way that preserves what makes it distinctive. The South Harbor Implementation Plan, which the city has been developing with extensive community input, reflects an attempt to answer that question intentionally rather than reactively. With a new comprehensive master plan in place, an active redevelopment pipeline, and a business community that spans dozens of nationalities and industries, Lynn enters 2026 with more economic momentum than it has seen in a generation.

The old rhyme that gave Lynn a dismissive reputation belongs to another era. The city being built today — on its waterfront, in its cultural district, and through its community organizations — is writing a new story.

The post The Gateway City Advantage — Lynn’s Economy Looks Forward appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.

The project is led by 2Life Communities, a senior housing developer, owner, and operator with a mission-driven focus on serving older adults. The organization describes itself as an advocate for senior housing across Massachusetts, and the Lynn development represents a significant expansion of its footprint on the North Shore. The groundbreaking drew an enthusiastic crowd — a reflection of how acute the need for senior housing has become in a city where an aging population intersects with a competitive housing market and persistently high rents.

Lynn, like many Gateway Cities in Massachusetts, faces a particular housing challenge. While the city’s South Harbor waterfront is seeing new market-rate and luxury construction, the supply of affordable housing options for lower-income seniors has not kept pace with demand. For elderly residents on fixed incomes — many of them longtime Lynners who watched the city’s shoe factories close, raised families in triple-deckers, and built decades of community here — the prospect of stable, affordable housing close to the neighborhoods they know is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

Solimine House will be part of a broader effort by the city and its partners to address that need. Lynn has been working on multiple fronts to expand housing options: the South Harbor Implementation Plan, which underwent community review in September 2025, specifically identified expanding affordable housing opportunities in the waterfront neighborhood as a key goal, alongside shoreline restoration and infrastructure improvements. The Pickering Middle School Building Committee has also been meeting to review budget figures for a school redevelopment that would affect one of the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods.

For 2Life Communities, the Lynn project also carries significance as an expression of their organizational values. The group has spoken openly about the importance of creating communities where older adults can remain connected to the cities and towns where they have spent their lives, rather than being displaced to facilities far from their support networks. Solimine House, situated within reach of Lynn’s downtown cultural district, public transit connections, and established neighborhoods, is designed with that philosophy in mind.

The $25,000 grant recently awarded to My Brother’s Table — a Lynn-based soup kitchen that has provided free meals to neighbors for decades — by The Boston Foundation’s Meeting the Moment: Sustaining Families Fund speaks to the same spirit of investment in community resilience. As Lynn grows and changes, organizations and projects like these serve as anchors, ensuring that long-term residents are not simply swept aside by the tide of development but instead supported as full participants in the city’s future.

With Solimine House expected to be completed in fall 2027, the countdown has begun for 150 Lynn seniors who will one day call it home.

The post Senior Housing Breaks Ground — Lynn Welcomes Solimine House appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.

Avalos is the chief executive officer of Precise Management and Residence, a Lynn-based firm, and brings a background rooted in both the business and civic life of the North Shore. Her election to the NSWC presidency reflects a broader shift that has been gradually taking hold in Lynn and surrounding communities: the growing visibility of Latina and immigrant professionals in leadership positions that were once occupied almost exclusively by those from more established and homogeneous backgrounds.

Lynn has long been one of the most diverse cities in Massachusetts. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the city of roughly 104,000 residents is home to a significant and growing Latino population, alongside communities with roots in Central America, Southeast Asia, West Africa, and elsewhere. The city has been designated a Gateway City by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — a recognition given to midsize urban centers that anchor regional economies but whose residents often face barriers to educational attainment and economic mobility.

Organizations like North Shore Women Connect have become vital connective tissue in this environment. By providing networking opportunities, professional development, and a platform for business owners and executives across the North Shore region, NSWC helps bridge the gap between communities that might otherwise operate in parallel rather than together. Avalos’s leadership brings those communities closer still.

Her rise also coincides with a wave of civic engagement in Lynn more broadly. In January 2026, Mayor Jared Nicholson was inaugurated alongside members of the City Council and School Committee, setting the stage for what city leaders hope will be a period of sustained investment in infrastructure, education, and community services. Ward 7 Councilor Jordan Avery, newly elected, was celebrated at a gathering in November that underscored the energy of a city that increasingly sees itself as a place of rising possibility rather than one defined by past struggles.

In the Lynn Public Schools system, advocates have long pushed for leadership that reflects the demographics of the student body — a majority of whom come from households where English is not the primary language. Programs like the Coordinated Family and Community Engagement initiative have tried to close the gap between schools and the families they serve, and figures like Ivanna Solano, who has been described by local media as an advocate for underserved women in Lynn’s immigrant community, have done grassroots work to amplify voices that might otherwise go unheard.

For Avalos, the NSWC presidency is an opportunity to continue that work on a regional scale. Her first meeting was held at Mangia Restaurant in Danvers, and the agenda — whatever it covered that evening — was framed by something larger: the simple, significant fact that the organization’s direction was now being shaped by someone whose story looks like the story of a rapidly changing North Shore.

The post A Latina Leader Steps Up — Lynn’s North Shore Women Connect Gets New President appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.

In July 2025, the newly remediated Lynn Harbor Park opened to the public for the first time. The 22-acre green space, built on the site of a former manufactured gas plant that had sat vacant for roughly four decades, now offers panoramic views of the harbor and the Boston skyline to residents who had never previously had access to that stretch of coast. The environmental cleanup, led by Charter Development in collaboration with the city and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, marked a major milestone in what officials hope will become a full-scale revitalization of Lynn’s South Harbor neighborhood.

The park is only the beginning. According to reporting by Boston 25 News, a private developer is preparing to break ground in 2026 on a project that would deliver 850 units of housing and approximately 26,000 square feet of commercial space — what city officials have described as the largest private investment in Lynn’s history. Mayor Jared Nicholson has framed the development as central to the city’s long-term future. ‘The opportunity that exists on the waterfront is absolutely critical to our future,’ Nicholson said. ‘That’s where the growth can and should happen.’

In a parallel effort, construction of 550 apartment units at the site of the former Lynnway Mart Indoor Mall and Flea Market has already been underway since 2022, with Connecticut-based developer Post Road Residential delivering what are marketed as luxury units along the South Harbor waterfront. Together, the two projects represent a concentrated injection of private capital into a neighborhood that planners have long identified as one of the city’s most promising yet underutilized assets.

The city is not leaving infrastructure to chance. Lynn is currently designing a new street grid intended to divert traffic off the congested Lynnway, and new construction standards will require buildings to be elevated above projected flood levels — a forward-thinking measure that accounts for rising sea levels along the Massachusetts coast. The harbor-facing edge of the South Harbor site is also being designed as a natural dune system capable of absorbing storm surge impacts.

Not everyone is celebrating without reservation. Community organizers, including the Lynn chapter of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, have raised concerns about affordability, noting that 85 deed-restricted affordable units out of 850 total in the planned development falls well short of what lower-income residents need. With Lynn’s median renter household income sitting at roughly $34,000 — less than half of the city’s median homeowner income — advocates argue that waterfront revitalization must do more to serve the full spectrum of the community, not just new arrivals drawn by harbor views.

Still, the consensus among city leaders and economic development professionals is that Lynn’s waterfront moment has finally arrived. The Economic Development and Industrial Corporation of Lynn (EDIC), which has been working for decades toward the transformation of the waterfront and downtown district into what it calls ‘bustling, pedestrian-friendly destinations,’ is actively engaged in the planning process. With a comprehensive master plan now in place and community input sessions ongoing, the city is moving with a deliberateness that earlier efforts often lacked.

For a city that has long been underestimated, the waterfront represents more than just new buildings and tax revenue. It represents a chance to rewrite the narrative — and, for tens of thousands of residents, to finally have a front-row seat to the water their city has always bordered.

The post A City in Motion — Lynn’s Waterfront Renaissance appeared first on Tonight In Lynn.