Annual Events & Festivals
Some places have one annual party and perhaps a parade to look forward to. In Hampton Roads there’s something to anticipate nearly every weekend. A lot of the crowded calendar comes from Virginia Beach efforts to lure and retain tourists and their dollars. But there are plenty of annual events scattered throughout the region—and across the year, once you get beyond the winter doldrums in January and February. As you will see, most of it is aimed at families, and is free or relatively inexpensive. And lots of it happens outdoors. Obviously, you’ll want to check ahead of time because dates and prices and locations can change every year. Enjoy!
1. Polar Plunge Winter Festival
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: This exercise in self-torture has been going on since 1992. It’s Special Olympics Virginia’s largest fundraiser, drawing more than 10,000 people to the beach. Their motto: “Don’t just catch any cold this winter . . . catch this cold. Take the Plunge.” For this good cause, more than 3,000 normally sane folks pay $100 for the privilege of rushing into the frigid Atlantic. There’s also a Boogie Down the Boardwalk Costume Parade and contest, musical entertainment, a sand sculpture, vendor displays, and giveaways. You can watch the madness for free, but if you want into the heated tent and festival area, you’ll have to cough up a $5 donation. Kids can take the plunge, but a parent or guardian has to sign a waiver form.
2. Taste Of Hampton Roads
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 627-6599
Description: Want to sample the best of local cuisine and contribute to a good cause as well? The solution is an annual upscale social called Taste of Hampton Roads that targets corporations and individuals to raise money for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. Diners get to “taste 10” of the 30 participating restaurants while dancing to live entertainment and enjoying a Vegas-style casino and live auction. The event, which began in 1989, earns the Foodbank enough money to provide a million meals to those in need. Cost is $75 per person.
3. St. Patrick’S Day Parade
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 587-3548
Description: It began in 1967 with a few Irish-Americans marching with trash-can lids and brooms around the tiny Ocean View headquarters of the Father Kealey Council 3548 of the Knights of Columbus. When they stopped for liquid refreshments, the leaders decided it was so much fun they wanted to launch a real parade the following spring. That little gathering has evolved into a parade up Granby Street through Ocean View that annually features nearly 200 bands, marching units, clowns, and floats and is one of the largest St. Patty’s celebrations on the East Coast. There’s an Emerald Ball the week before and a party immediately after the parade with live music and food.
4. Shamrockin In Ghent
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: If you really want to show your Irish, head over to Ghent the Friday before St. Patty’s day for what used to be called the Greening of Ghent. It’s a big street party on Colley Avenue with live Irish music that involves nearly all of the restaurants and nightspots in this popular enclave. And the proceeds benefit Hope House Foundation, a nonprofit that provides independent living services to adults with developmental disabilities.
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
6. Doo Dah Parade
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: It calls itself “Norfolk’s most foolish tradition,” and who can argue when you watch this wacky parade on or around April Fool’s Day. Of course, when you’re dealing with fools, you never know what to expect, or even if you should expect the parade to happen. Sometimes, the fools just can’t work up the energy. But when they do, it can be hilarious. There have been Bed Pan Brigades, the Wingtip and Umbrella Precision Drill Team, Marching Elvises, and even the Pooper Scooper Brigade wending their way through the financial district on Main Street.
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
8. Air Power Over Hampton Roads Air Show
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: This is the first of the two military air shows that usually happen in Hampton Roads. Once there were three, the Air Force’s exhibition on the Peninsula and then a pair of Navy shows, one at Chambers Field on Naval Station Norfolk and the other at Oceana. When Chambers Field was merged with Oceana, so were the Navy air shows. Although they were all popular, it put quite a strain on the military aviators. In fact, in 2010 the Air Force cancelled its Air Power show entirely because of operational demands in Afghanistan and Iraq. The show serves as Langley’s premier open house, with a night show and fireworks and a pair of main shows featuring the Thunderbirds on Sat and Sun afternoons. Officials of the newly combined Joint Base Langley-Eustis promised it would resume in 2011.
9. Easter Sunrise Services
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: There are scores of sunrise services on Easter Sunday, but the one at the Cape Henry Memorial Cross on Fort Story is the granddaddy. It began in 1927, eight years before the Daughters of the American Colonists erected the cross at the spot where the Jamestown settlers first gave thanks for a safe crossing. Here, you can actually watch the sun rise over the Atlantic as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on that first Easter. The base recently switched owners, from the Army to the Navy, but it’s unlikely access for this traditional service will change.
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
11. International Children’S Festival
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 727-8311 or (757) 727-20
Description: This annual free event allows children and their families to experience the cultures and cuisines of far-away places without leaving Hampton’s Mill Point Park. There is entertainment and educational exhibitions as well as food from more than 30 countries. The djembe drumming and local storytelling help open the minds of children and teaches them the value of diversity. There’s lots of fun stuff to do, including a peek at how colonial kids played. And if you’re a Girl Scout you can even earn a festival patch.
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
13. Hampton Roads Bluegrass Jamboree
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 594-7448
Description: The Ferguson Center recently spawned a new annual attraction, a gathering of bluegrass giants at Christopher Newport University. If you love bluegrass, from old time to contemporary, check out the lineup at this mid-April event.
14. Virginia Arts Festival
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 282-2800
Description: Beginning on the Ides of April, this festival runs for six weeks and across 10 cities. It offers a taste of every art form, from chamber music and military bands to theater, ballet, and rock. Nearly every day during the festival, you’ll find a headliner or two. Entertainers come from across the world. From a Shakespeare troupe to a Korean Army Band, classical guitarists to Russian folk dancers, it’s all here.
15. Virginia Beer Festival
City: Hampton Roads, VA
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (757) 282-2800
Description: While the highbrows take in the rest of the Virginia Arts Festival, you can enjoy the High Life at Town Point Park. This mid-May fest annually features the best suds from Europe and America. You can buy tasting tickets for $25 in advance, $30 at the gate, and sample the wares in your own souvenir glass. You can come by boat too, with reserved docking for $250 per vessel up to 35 feet. If your dinghy is bigger than that, so is the price. You get four tasting tickets as well as your boat slip.