The renovations to Town Point Park are now complete. Having received $11.5 million in upgrades it is now the premier waterfront park in the area.. Harborfest 2009 will be held there July 3-5th this year . It will be combined with Independence Day and the celebration of the park’s reopening .
Lee Greenwood will be there for a concert Saturday at 8 p.m. along with fireworks, music, tall ships and tugboats and activities for the kids.
New this year is the Al Fresco Outdoor Cafe, which brings a restaurant-style eating experience into the park. Adult beverages are on tap at the Hard Rock Fish Cafe.
Each night of the festival ( Friday , Saturday and Sunday) will offer fireworks, but Friday’s are twilight fireworks – made especially for the evening light.
Location:
Town Point Park, Downtown Norfolk, Virginia
Hours:
Friday: Noon – 11 pm
Saturday: Noon -11 pm
Sunday: Noon – 8 pm
Norfolk Harborfest® began more than a twenty five years ago when the Tall Ship Christian Radich came to call on Norfolk, a waterfront community that had no city-owned property on which to dock a ship. The ship was docked three blocks from Town Point at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 13,000 people crossed her gangway in just one and a half days. Over the next two years, City planners and leaders created berthing to accommodate more ships, and a waterfront public park was planned. Norfolk Harborfest® was born.
Today, tall ships from all over the world frequently call on the City of Norfolk and nearly half a million visitors gather on the downtown waterfront each year for this annual celebration of our region’s rich nautical heritage.
The traditions of the East Coast’s Premier Waterfront Festival are celebrated with nautical history, maritime events, visiting vessels, children’s activities, local, regional and national entertainment. Festivities stretch from The Waterside Festival Marketplace to the Historic Freemason Harbor.
This weekend’s festivities include the Official Opening Ceremonies of Town Point Park
+ Over 130 hours of live entertainment on multiple stages, featuring national, regional and local musical acts Naturalization Ceremony, WVEC Channel 13 Parade of Sail, Battleship, Tall Ships, Tall Ship Tours, Pirates, and Fireboats.
The City of Norfolk is proud to welcome this year’s tall ships, the Cisne Branco from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Capitan Miranda from Montevideo, Uruguay; Norfolk’s own Schooner Virginia; Pride of Baltimore II from Baltimore Maryland. WVEC Channel 13 will be on hand broadcasting live from the Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center’s upper deck, welcoming each ship as they enter the harbor. WVEC Channel 13 is the official Television Station for the 33rd Annual Norfolk Harborfest®.
Hard Rockfish Café: One of the hottest spots at Norfolk Harborfest, the Hard Rockfish Café will feature live entertainment with local and regional acoustic favorites as well as delicious, fresh seafood prepared by Granby Street’s own Snapper’s Restaurant and your favorite adult beverage selections. Meet your friends at the Hard Rockfish Café!
Made In Virginia Wine Tasting: The Made In Virginia Wine Tasting will feature wine sampling from Chatham Vineyards , Rebec Vineyards and Rockbridge Vineyard and Wines will be available by the glass, bottle and case as well.
Fine Outdoor Dining: Alfresco table service featuring Freemason’s favorite, Omar’s Carriage House. Reservations are recommended by calling 757.622.4990!
Eat, Drink and Be Maritime: Outdoor dining on the waterfront will include over 50 food and beverage stations serving tasty festival menus of Hot Buttered Corn on the Cob, BBQ, Crab Cakes, Hot Dogs, Seafood, Watermelon, Turkey Legs, Old Fashioned Lemonade, Sno-Cones, Ice Cream, Fried Twinkies, and more!
NORFOLK VA FIREWORKS Schedule 2009
10 p.m. Friday, 9:30 p.m. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday
MUSIC
Budweiser Main Stage (On the map)
Friday
3:30 – 4:30 p.m. The Late Show’s Gospel Choir
6 – 7:30, p.m., Right On
8:30 – 10 p.m. Collective Soul
Saturday
1:45 – 2:30 p.m., Michael Rossman, comedian
3:15 – 4:30 p.m., The Spinners
5:30 – 6:45 p.m., U.S. Fleet Forces Band
8 – 9:30 p.m., Lee Greenwood
10 – 11 p.m., DJ Joey Melendez
Sunday
12:45 – 2, p.m., Percy Sledge
2:45-3:20 p.m., Jonathan Singleton & the Grove
4:10-5 p.m., Randy Houser
6:15 – 7:30 p.m., Joe Nichols
Hard Rockfish Stage (On the map)
Friday
3 – 4 p.m., Jesse Chong
4:30 – 6 p.m., Famous Unknowns – Lewis McGehee and Mike Lille
7:30 – 8:30 p.m., Michael Clark Band
10:15 – 11:30 p.m., Lewis McGehee
Saturday
1 – 2 p.m., Susan Greenbaum
2:30 – 3:15 p.m., Susan Greenbaum
4:30 – 5:30 p.m., Narissa Bond
6:45 – 8 p.m., Livingston Taylor
Sunday
Noon – 12:45 p.m., Mercy Creek
2 – 2:45 p.m., Lewis McGehee and Mike Lille
3:20 – 4:10 p.m., Lewis McGehee & Mike Lille
5 – 6:15 p.m., Dave Barnes
Marina Deck Stage (at Waterside Marketplace at the Old Black Finn Restaurant) (On the map)
Friday
3 – 4:15 p.m., Luke Hartman
5 – 6 p.m. Skye Zentz
6:30 – 7:45 p.m., Ben Phelps
8:15 – 10 p.m., Mike Proffitt
Saturday
Noon – 3 p.m., FM 99
6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Shane Hines
8:15 – 9:30 p.m., Mike Lille
Sunday
3 – 4 p.m., Brian Allard and John Joanides
4:30 – 5:45 p.m., Mike Proffitt
6:15 – 7:30 p.m., Karl Werne
Bluegrass & BBQ Stage (On the map)
Friday
12:30 – 2:30 p.m., Winds of Grass
3 – 5 p.m., Desert Dust
5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Amy Ferebee
8 – 10 p.m., Code Blue
Saturday
12:30 – 2:30 p.m., Winds of Grass
3 – 5 p.m., Charlie Austin Band
5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Amy Ferebee
8:15 – 9:30 p.m., Code Blue
Sunday
12:30 – 1:45 p.m., Code Blue
2:15 – 4:30 p.m., Desert Dust
5 – 7:15 p.m., Winds of Grass
MARITIME
WVEC Channel 13 Parade of Sail, ships enter downtown harbor at noon Friday
Lazy Lizzy River Anything that Floats but a Boat Race!, 1 p.m. Saturday
Ultimate Build-a-Boat, Boat Building Contest and Race, watch engineers build their crafts Saturday for the race at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tug Muster, demonstrations begin at at 7:30 p.m. Saturday
SPECIAL EVENTS
Warbirds flyover
Vintage World War II airplanes, hosted by Military Aviation Museum at the Virginia Beach Airport, will conduct a flyover at 2:45 p.m. Saturday.
MORE INFO ON HARBORRFEST 2009 HERE
“Let Freedom Ring” is the theme for this year’s 30th annual Yorktown Fourth of July
Celebration.
This year, a new starting time of 4 p.m. has been set for the family-oriented and patriotic
events held in Historic Yorktown.
Activities taking place in Historic Yorktown include:
• 4 p.m. Fly Over by 71st Fighter Squadron assigned to 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force
Base – Victory Monument
• 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Children’s Fun Center – Main and Nelson Street area
• 5 p.m. “Sounds of Liberty” Bell Ringing Ceremony – Nelson House (Main and Nelson
Street Intersection)
• 6 p.m. The Fifes & Drums of York Town – Victory Monument
• 6:30 p.m. The Yorktown Chorale – Victory Monument
• 7 p.m. The Fifes & Drums of York Town – Victory Monument
• 8 p.m. U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band – Victory Monument
• 9:15 p.m. Spectacular Fireworks Display over the York River
In addition, the annual Independence Day 8K Run/5K Walk event sponsored by the
Yorktown Fourth of July Celebration Committee will take place at 8 a.m. at York High School,
located on Rt. 17 in Yorktown.
For additional event information, please visit www.yorkcounty.gov/fourth or call York
County Parks and Recreation at 890-3500.
Prepare to “ooh” and “aah” as the sky above the world’s “Most Beautiful Park” explodes with color to top off Independence Day festivities. Celebrate America’s birthday at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA with four nights of patriotic fireworks set to music July 1 – 4. The fireworks extravaganza, “Boom ‘n July,” is included with park admission and begins each night at 9:15 p.m..
The villages of Oktoberfest and San Marco are the best viewing areas for the fireworks show.
You can dine in the park’s Black Forest Picnic area behind Das Festhaus during a pre-fireworks buffet that also includes access to an exclusive fireworks-viewing area near Festhaus park. Dinner seating begins at 8:30 p.m.. For more information on the Boom ‘n July fireworks or to make dinner reservations, visit www.buschgardens.com/va or call (800) 343-7946.
4th of July Fireworks (busch gardens) 2 Video
