Willimantic holds a Boom Box Parade every 4 July where, instead of a marching band performing, residents bring boom boxes tuned to WILI, the local AM radio station. The tradition started on Memorial Day of 1986, when no marching band was available for a parade. The parade has received national attention from the "Washington Post". For Valentine's Day, it runs a chocolate festival, including a baking contest. The event started with a popular set of T-shirts first printed in 1980, which led to the first crowning of a "Town Cupid" in 1982, now an annual event.