Roanoke Island Festival Park
July 13, 6-8 p.m.
Outdoor Pavilion- Opening Ceremony
Roanoke Island Festival Park will commemorate the first landing of English ships in the New World on July 13, 2009. Opening ceremonies will begin at 6 p.m. The event is free.This event is funded through the support of Dominion.
425 candles will illuminate the Outdoor Pavilion stage as we kick-off this week-long celebration. Several performers will be on hand- representing 16th century history and a birthday cake will be cut. Elizabethan performers and activities will fill the lawn.
The remainder of the week (July 14-17) will feature special programming, in all venues, with the Guilde of St. Andrew and Renaissance Faire performers from Raleigh, NC. Elizabethan food and drink will be demonstrated and offered as samples along with games and pastimes, textiles and tailoring and arms and armor.
Each day (July14-17) at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. the Renaissance Faire performers will make special appearances. A passport program will be offered for children’s participation throughout the different venues of the Park. When completed, they will receive a complimentary T-shirt of the Elizabeth II, the Park’s 16th century representative sailing ship, to color.
The Outer Banks History Center will host an exhibit of memorabilia from the numerous events relating to America’s Four Hundredth Anniversary Commemoration held 1584-1587. The display will be located in the OBHC Reading Room.
In 1584, Queen Elizabeth I granted Sir Walter Raleigh a patent to discover territory in the New World and plant an English colony there. The voyage lasted three months and the ships landed off the coast of present day North Carolina and England took possession of the territory in the name of the Queen. Raleigh later named the land “Virginia” in honor of the “Virgin Queen” Elizabeth. This celebration is in commemoration of that landing 425 year ago!
Posts
