NORFOLK – The annual Harborfest celebration will run for an extra day this year to mark its 40th year.
The free, four-day festival begins Thursday with a sail boat race, something the festival hasn’t hosted in years, according to Festevents Marketing Director Jason Nichols. More than 20 ships will race along the bay, beginning at noon off Craney Island and finishing at Town Point Park in downtown Norfolk.
“It’s our 4oth anniversary, so we want to bring back some of the things from the early years in Harborfest,” Nichols said.
This year’s event includes a new craft beer and Virginia wine garden, and an international parade unit from the Bahamas. A hot dog-eating contest will also debut at the festival. Music entertainment will include Grace Potter, The Wailers, Rick Springfield, The Drifters, Fuzz Band and more.
Event organizers expect more than 250,000 visitors, Nichols said.
The fleet of tall ships and vessels on display include a U.S. Navy destroyer from Norfolk, ARA Libertad from Argentina, and Kalmar Nyckel from Wilmington, Del. The parade of ships is noon Friday at the Norfolk Downtown Harbor. Public tours of the ships will begin at noon Saturday and Sunday and end at sunset. A fireworks show will begin at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Other events include search-and-rescue demonstrations by the U.S. Coast Guard and a “build a boat challenge,” in which participants construct their own boats in teams on Saturday and race them Sunday.
Festevents has 12 full-time employees who begin planning the next Harborfest as soon as one ends. The organizers rely on about 100 volunteers and interns to run the event, Nichols said.
There will be more than 50 food and drink vendors, with offerings including crab cakes, shrimp, fried oysters, scallops, barbecue, pitas and more. A full event schedule can be found here.
“It’s a great thing,” Nichols said. “It’s bringing all seven cities and then some together and giving them a platform with live entertainment and family activities.”
