A reality show that follows teams of racers on a kooky, trivia-infused burn through the American landscape will film in the Historic Triangle next year.
The Greater Williamsburg Chamber & Tourism Alliance successfully bid to lure “Fireball Run” to the Triangle, which will serve as one of several host locations for the racers as they tear across the east coast in a journey from Connecticut to Florida.
During their stop in the Triangle — which will be depicted across much of a 44-minute episode — they will have to track down clues and solve trivia questions hidden throughout area landmarks.
“They’re excited by the fact we have battlefields in Yorktown and ships in Jamestown,” said Alliance President and CEO Karen Riordan. “They’re familiar with what Colonial Williamsburg is offering in terms of [Revquest, the hybrid digital and real life spy game guests of the living history museum can play], so they want to check that out as well.”
The upcoming season, the show’s ninth, will add four teams of astronauts to the 40 other driving teams who have participated in past seasons for a “Space Race”-themed adventure, which ends in Cocoa Beach, Fla. That city is part of Florida’s space coast, an approximately 70-mile sliver of the state’s eastern shores which includes the Kennedy Space Center.
Along with one episode in the ninth season primarily set in the Historic Triangle, several other episodes will also include footage of the area. Riordan said she is pleased the show will spread the Triangle’s exposure to the show’s audience across several weeks.
Each season of the show has a different theme, with past seasons delving into adventures on the American frontier — i.e., Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri — the great deserts of the Southwest and the industrial corridors of the rust belt. The teams travel in vehicles ranging from old jalopies to finely tuned European supercars, stopping in each host location to play trivia games and interact with locals.
Riordan said she is excited about the exposure the Historic Triangle will receive as a host location. When the teams roll into town in September 2015 to film, they will be met by local leaders for a filmed public event. More importantly, she said, the video of teams prowling the Triangle for clues and playing games and participating in local activities will paint the area as a fun place to visit.
“They thought we would be reluctant because they thought we wanted to preserve an image of being a quaint historical area,” Riordan said. “We want to make people more aware we are more than that, that we have that and we’re proud of it and it’s foundational, but if they think that’s all we are, we haven’t done our job.”
Fun has been at the center of talks among local tourism leaders for how to market the Historic Triangle as a worthwhile place to visit. Research into the area’s brand and what tourists value when planning vacations have identified fun as a major factor. Consequently, ads for the area set to debut next year are designed to emphasize how guests can have fun while on vacation here.
The show is currently distributed online, streaming on several sources including Google’s Play store and Amazon’s Fire TV. The show’s producers are in talks with television networks to try to get on air, which would open the viewership — and the exposure the Historic Triangle receives — to a new audience.
Riordan said along with the exposure on film, the area will be promoted to online audiences via social media. She said she also wants to include links to visitwilliamsburg.com, a website touting the area’s offerings where tickets and hotel rooms can be purchased.
Representatives from the show will visit the area next month to scope out where they want to film. Riordan said the team wants to see the area’s scenic locations, business points of interest, historic sites and attractions. The team will then return in April to finalize the itinerary for the racers.
During those visits, Riordan said she will introduce the show runners to civic leaders in the area. The show allows local leaders from host locations to participate in the race. Current racers include Ohio Rep. Marlene Anielski, the President of the Ohio State Board of Education Debe Terhar and Mesa, Arizona Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sally Harrison.
“Fireball Run” will be the second show to film in the area in as many years. Earlier in 2014, crews from AMC’s show “TURN: Washington’s Spies” spent a few days in Williamsburg shooting for that show’s upcoming season.
The show will film Sept. 28 and 29, 2015, in the Historic Triangle. The ninth season of “Fireball Run” is set to premiere in 2016. See past episodes of the show by visiting its website.
Related Coverage:
