YORKTOWN — The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation will salute the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence during Liberty Celebration at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown this Fourth of July.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on July 4, visitors are invited to enjoy interpretive programs, artillery demonstrations and learn about the challenges that faced our nation’s founders, including those who signed the Declaration of Independence, as well as those for whom the new nation’s rights of freedom and liberty did not yet apply.
Highlights include:
- Catch “Liberty Fever” — the museum’s award-winning introductory film, shown throughout the day in the main theater.
- Discover the powerful stories behind the Declaration of Independence in an immersive gallery exhibit surrounded by signatures of this historic document’s signers.
- Join in the “Great American 4th of July Sing-along” led by the Cigar Box String Band, playing songs from American history that everyone knows by heart at 12:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Enjoy songs played on the fiddle, banjo and bones.
- From artillery firings to cloth-dyeing demonstrations, take part in patriotic programming with historical interpreters in outdoor re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and Revolution-era farm.
- Enjoy a performance by The Fifes and Drums of York Town at 11:30 a.m.
- Share your thoughts on liberty by adding them to the “Liberty Tree,” an interactive feature on a 17-foot sculptural tree, rooted in the museum galleries.
A full schedule of activities is available at jyfmuseums.org/
Living-History Experiences
Visitors will have the opportunity to discover daily life for 18th-century soldiers and citizens caught up in the American Revolution in life-size re-creations of a Continental Army encampment and Revolution-era farm.
According to the Jamestown Yorktown-Foundation (JYF), at the Continental Army encampment, historical interpreters describe and depict daily routines and diverse roles of American soldiers, with demonstrations of flintlock musket and artillery firing, 18th-century surgical and medical practices, and the role of the quartermaster in managing troop supplies. Visitors can also join an 18th-century artillery crew as historical interpreters fire a salute to our nation’s founders during demonstrations at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., weather permitting.
At the re-created Revolution-era farm from 9 a.m. to noon, visitors can learn how farmers during the Revolution became more self-sufficient by growing and processing flax, cotton and wool for homespun cloth, and how natural dyes were produced from available materials. Historical interpreters also will prepare a variety of 18th-century dishes, using historical recipes from Virginia’s earliest cookbooks, as well as foods of enslaved people and cultural influences on period dishes, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Civic Season Activities
As part of Civic Season, a national community engagement initiative through July 4, a variety of family-friendly activities will be held at 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. to explore the founding documents, take part in art-making sessions and share perspectives on the meaning of individual liberty, JYF added.
Admission to Liberty Celebration
“Liberty Celebration,” funded in part by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc. Annual Fund, is included with museum admission: $20 for adults, $10 for youth ages 6-12 and free for ages 5 and under. A value-priced combination ticket with Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia, is $34 for adults and $17 for ages 6-12. Residents of York County, James City County and the City of Williamsburg, including William & Mary students, receive complimentary admission with proof of residency. Tickets are available online or in person at both museums.
A partner of the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and located on 200 Water Street near the Colonial Parkway in Yorktown. The museum shop and café are open during museum hours. Parking at the museum is free for museum visitors. On July 4, the Yorktown Trolley will offer free shuttle service to Historic Yorktown for its Fourth of July Celebrations from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about “Liberty Celebration,” visit jyfmuseums.org/
