The first annual Labor Day Festival was headed by Vincent Caruso, Henry Brautigam, and E. Don Bullian, who composed the original Festival Committee (Meredith 2). The festival's primary goal was to earn money for the Building Fund of the Greenbelt Youth Center, and in its first year earned $800.00 (Meredith 5). In later years, however, the goal of the festival came to focus simply on keeping people safe and off the roads for Labor Day weekend, rather than to raise money.

The holiday generates a four-day weekend festival whose most popular events include the "Miss Greenbelt" and "Junior Miss Greenbelt" pageant and the Labor Day parade, but also features athletic and children's events (Meredith 2). In its earliest form, the Miss Greenbelt Pageant was intended for girls between the ages of 16 and 25, who were sponsored by local community groups such as the Women's Club, Greenbelt Homes, and the Greenbelt Fire Department (Meredith 7). They were judged on the basis of poise, personality, and appearance, and would compete in cocktail dresses, and swim wear, but went on in the 1970s to compete in a fashion show as well (Meredith 48). With the year 1974 came the establishment of the "Junior Miss" Greenbelt pageant.

While the pageant may seem like harmless fun, some women--members of the National Organization for Women (NOW)--opposed it even as early on as 1971 Meredith 48). Wrote Katherine Keene:

Not only does this [pageant] honor very little, but it is also a community recognition of the rather vicious attitude that the most important talents any young woman should cultivate are to be pleasing, to have an attractive smile, and to have certain proper physical proportions (Meredith 48).

Later again in 1972, NOW opposed the Miss Greenbelt Pageant, saying that it:

"plac[ed] the physical beauty and charm of adolescent girls before the recognition of any other individual talents" and "help[ed] perpetuate the stereotype of women as being, first and foremost, decorative."

--Nancy Bryan, Pres.
North P.G.C. NOW

Even though the Miss Greenbelt Pageant was and still is considered a highlight of the festival, other activities were held for those who could not compete in the pageant. There were numerous athletic competitions, such as baseball, a tennis tournament, swimming, a horse shoe pitching tournament, a golf contest, and many running events (Meredith 67).

For the younger kids there were contest and games. Depending on the age of the child, there was an activity intended specifically for that age level. Young children (pre-schoolers) could participate in the "Balloon Burst", older children (9,10,11 years) could participate in a watermelon eating contest, and very young children (1 year or younger) could compete in a "Diaper-Derby Crawling Contest" (Meredith 36). For the teenagers, there was a pie eating contest and a limbo walk, not to mention an all-teen dance (Meredith 36).

In 1969, as technology became more and more advanced, the Greenbelt Movie Theatre began to show NASA Films from the Apollo 11 Mission, and "Bridge to Space", scenes from the Apollo 10 mission (Meredith 39). These films were shown continuously and free-of-charge in honor of the holiday (Meredith 39). More advanced technology heightened public interest in outer space and space travel, but before this trend, one might have viewed a Disney film at the local theatre.

Each year, the festival culminates with the town parade, in which the Misses Greenbelt and their court appear, followed by the annual Crab Feast and a Political Rally (Meredith 59).