Summer is blasting off at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
The foundation oversees both the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and Jamestown Settlement, and both sites have educational demonstrations planned this weekend.
The fun begins Friday at Jamestown Settlement with the public lecture Sufficiently Appareled beginning at 6:30 p.m. It will be led by historical clothing experts Jane Malcolm-Davies and Ninya Mikhaila of The Tudor Tailor and JMD & Co.
The pair will explain how a poor man could dress to the nines in 16th-century England and explore how international trade affected British fashion.
The fun continues into Saturday with Artillery Through the Ages at the American Revolution Museum.
Demonstrations of artillery firing will take place throughout the weekend. Guests can check out artillery pieces from the 17th through 20th century in the re-created Continental Army camp.
Two half-hour presentations will be held in the education center’s classrooms from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Park guests can learn about Gen. Henry Knox and the role he played as the American Army’s chief of artillery in the victory at Yorktown.
Artillery During the American Revolutionary War will teach guests about the function and purpose of artillery, its effect in actual battles, and the duties of the men who served on a gun crew.
Artillery Through the Ages kicks off the six-month special exhibition, Blast from the Past: Artillery in the War of Independence.
The exhibition will explore topics including the use of artillery on the battlefield, technological innovations, the role of an artillery crew and their deployment and transport.
Artillery used by American, British and French forces will also be on display, including cannons, howitzers and mortars, as well as their various forms of ammunition.
Throughout the exhibition American Revolution Museum guests will be able to enlist in an artillery crew; learn to manufacture cartridges; load, aim and fire the weapons; and watch an experiential film about the 1781 Siege of Yorktown.
Finally, Jamestown Settlement’s Godspeed, a re-creation of one of the three vessels that brought the first English colonists to Jamestown, will join the Parade of Sail for Norfolk’s Harborfest. The ship will be docked at Norfolk’s Waterside marina from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Both museums are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For tickets, savings and annual passes go to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation website.
