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    Harborfest

    3.5 (12 reviews)

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    Pravash M.

    This is the nation's largest, longest running free maritime festival occurring each June in Norfolk's Town Point Park next to Nauticus. Waterside drive is conveniently closed for ~10 blocks to allow for safe pedestrian travel. Park and walk from neighboring lots and garages for a posted fee,or chance it with limited free on street parking. Beware of posted restrictions! FREE: Attendees can listen to live music at a couple of stages, meet local news celebs, see/tour several boats, play pirate games and activities including some photo ops, plus see a variety of feature booths like mermaid shows. FEE: Food, drinks, snacks, desserts and adult beverages are for sale on-site; as with most festivals, prices are higher since you're paying for convenience. New this year was a ferris wheel with "air conditioned" enclosed cars and lights. Friends that rode it said the air wasn't very cool, especially in 80+ degree temps. If you have kids and it's a hot day (it usually is), take advantage of the fountains that spout water from the ground. Plenty of porta potties abound but you may wish to venture inside of Waterside. Be sure to catch the Saturday evening fireworks which are usually spectacular!

    Maria C.

    It's Harborfest not Harborfeast! Hope Yelp updates that. This is a free event for all to enjoy. However, the excitement level - the WOW factors that the festival usually brings, I didn't experience them this year. Although, I didn't visit the parade of sail (Friday) or Saturdays events (most populated day), I visited Sunday and this day was blah. I think I spent maybe an hour in the park. Tours on the ships were available but it was only a handful of ships present. The lines were long but no unbearable. There was a magic show on the center stage and although the magician "Kate the Great" I believe that's her name, she was just OK - no wow factors here. But she did draw in a crowd. The weather was nice as I walked along the Elizabeth River. But keep in mind, the park, Townpoint Park doesn't provide much shade. A hat, sunblock, sunglasses...stay hydrated. The vendors were plentiful as usual. Now this wasn't a disappointment. All types of food available for purchase. Beer and wine are sold as well. While this a family event, it's not much for the younger children to enjoy. While the park is an open area, so yes your children can run around, but structured activities, not much. But the fireworks show, usually start at 9:30 pm on Saturday - super awesome this year! Although I viewed them from Portside (Portsmouth, VA). It's a great day to enjoy the great outdoors, nonetheless...make it a great day with the family or alone! Have fun and enjoy life!

    Anthony K.

    First time here for this. This was an outstanding fest. 5-6 ships from different countries on display and offer self paced tours. Plenty of food and drink choices from all the food trucks/trailers. There are little events and shows to entertain all ages throughout the 3 days. The military does a a few great demonstrations. Several local vendors selling/offering discounted prices on their services or products. Excellent event to be had by all. NOTE: bring sun block.

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    8 years ago

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    1 year ago

    so fun and the boats were so big and tuff, lots of vendors and food options (free daiya pizza too yum yum)

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    8 years ago

    Definitely fun, Friday night was excellent with the performances on multiple stages and the mini parade. All around glad I came out.

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    Town Point Virginia Wine Festival - Festevents

    Town Point Virginia Wine Festival - Festevents

    4.3(50 reviews)
    0.4 km

    I had the lovely opportunity to attend the Fall Town Point Park Wine Festival, and let me tell you…read moreI finally understand the hype! I've had friends go in previous years, and this year was my turn. Now that I've experienced it for myself, I can say I'll be at every wine festival next year ,spring and fall included! As someone still expanding my wine palate, this was such an amazing experience. The vendors were sweet, knowledgeable, and so patient, There were a two wines Im obsessed with one that tasted exactly like a green tea shooter (I was sold on that one!), and another combo where the vendor mixed a strawberry wine with a chocolate red wine to make a chocolate-covered strawberry flavor

    I gotta tell you if you think you're gonna run outta wines to try you won't. I've gone for both…read morethe spring and fall one. Boy oh boy. The best things I can tell you are vendors are happy to serve you, you might wanna get there early, and either get a group and buy a table to sit or a hotel near by for a lil mid wine fest nap lol. TRUST I get out there, try my wines, then wake up from my nap with money in hand to buy the best ones!! Def something fun to do and since all the wines are local? It ain't nothing but a fun day or even weekend trip to go grab a bottle at the winery you couldn't stay away from. I give it high ranks. Oh and of course? The food good too. Plenty of food trucks out there with a lot of different options. I usually just get a bucket of fries from one vendor (and if you keep the bucket it's like 4$ refills anytime they're over there) and then try something new I didn't try last time. This past time I just wanted the ribbon fries and some wings. I was asleep boy I tell ya. I have one bad for me. That is I feel like I see these wineries only. I love that it's a Va wine fest but where the rest of the wineries?? I feel like I had about the same options both times but maybe I'm just remembering wrong But yeah. Wine fest get your tickets early and beat me there don't meet me there.

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    Town Point Virginia Wine Festival - Festevents - Purchased my sip ups Ready to go!! Thanks babe!!

    Purchased my sip ups Ready to go!! Thanks babe!!

    Town Point Virginia Wine Festival - Festevents
    Town Point Virginia Wine Festival - Festevents

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    Virginia Chocolate Festival

    Virginia Chocolate Festival

    1.5(6 reviews)
    0.6 km

    I completely agree with David B. The Virginia Chocolate Festival was not quite what I imagined. I…read morecould see paying $5 to get in, but certainly not $20. I figured for a $20 admission, there would be a lot of freebies...not the case. Not every booth gave out samples, and many of the ones that did, only gave out a small pinch. One booth was selling chocolate infused red wine that was actually pretty good, but when I inquired to buy some, they said they were not selling it at the festival due to lack of a license. What?! Their line was huge, they could have made so much money. All in all, I'm still glad I went, but then again my ticket was a gift. If I had paid $20, only to find that I had to drop a lot more cash inside to get any reasonable sampling of chocolate, I would have left very disappointed.

    This was an absolute joke. Go to the event page on Facebook, and read what other festival goers had…read moreto say. We went on Saturday, and got there fairly early in the day (around 12:00). The lines were RIDICULOUS, so we were hopeful it would be a fun event... Honestly, there was not one positive about this event. 1) There were not very many vendors, and not all of them were chocolate related (there were several wines, & beers, Verizon Fios...) 2) A lot of vendors ran out of samples. We stood in line for the Culinary Institute's line for 20 minutes, and they ran out of whatever they were making about 4 people before me (with about 30 people still behind me). 3) Some of the vendors that were chocolate related, weren't giving out chocolate. For example, Twisted Sisters. They had cartons of chocolate cupcakes they were selling, but instead of giving away mini cupcakes (which would have made sense), they were giving out small cups of stale, chocolate drizzled popcorn. There was another cupcakery there not giving out anything AT ALL... just selling their cupcakes. So, what did the money we spent on the tickets go towards? No decorations, VERY FEW samples. It was an incredibly frustrating experience.

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    Virginia Chocolate Festival - Chocolate demonstration! @vachocfest @vaartsfest #vachocfest

    Chocolate demonstration! @vachocfest @vaartsfest #vachocfest

    Virginia Chocolate Festival - 487#yelp757chocolate

    487#yelp757chocolate

    Virginia Chocolate Festival - 125 #yelp757chocolate

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    125 #yelp757chocolate

    Stockley Gardens Arts Festival

    Stockley Gardens Arts Festival

    4.2(9 reviews)
    0.9 km

    This neighborhood art event happens every year twice per year - once in May and once again in…read moreOctober for a weekend filled with art, food, and music. A few years ago I went to the May festival and yesterday enjoyed it on a beautiful and sunny October day with perfect weather and a light breeze. There are so many artists here and so many interesting items to see. It spans the entire three sections of Stockley Gardens in the middle of the neighborhood near The Hague St. Luke's Episcopal Church. There are some food vendors (I saw around 6) and there are several scheduled bands that play live music so you can make a nice couple hours out of enjoying this. It gets pretty crowded as locals really love it. This is not your typical art show - there are some pretty high-end pieces here that go for upwards of $20,000 and the majority of the larger art pieces are no less than $1000 minimum but most are much more. I saw some jewelry, stained glass and glass art, pottery, and tons and tons of canvas and other mixed medium art pieces with a real range of talent and innovative techniques I haven't seen before. Artists travel from all over the US to participate in this event and there are tons of vendors here so it's worth an afternoon visit. It's a short walk to Colley so you can make a complete afternoon in Ghent out of it and walk around, enjoy the Hague, shop on Colley and even have dinner or coffee. Parking is a bit of a challenge if you want to be very nearby - but if you can park and walk a few blocks you should be fine finding something in one of the nearby neighborhoods.

    Such a great collection of artists, food vendors, and music. Be prepared to get muddy, though, as…read moreit nearly always rains just before or during this event.

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    Stockley Gardens Arts Festival
    Stockley Gardens Arts Festival
    Stockley Gardens Arts Festival - Better than flava flav's

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    Better than flava flav's

    Virginia Beer Festival - Pano of the main tents.

    Virginia Beer Festival

    4.1(7 reviews)
    0.4 km

    Apologies as I've been sitting on this draft for a few weeks. The 2014 Virginia Beer Festival was…read moreexcellent. The weather was beautiful and of course the event was held at Town Point Park right on the water. You couldn't ask for a better day at all. My only real complaint would be the lines to get in. They were initially long and there was little clarity as to which line you should be in until you got up close to the gate. This was especially true if you were a VIP or had Will Call tickets. Once the lines got moving everyone that was paying at the gate got in right away, while Will Call people who had paid online so they wouldn't have to wait ended up standing in line for quite a while. The reason for this, the 'pay at the gate' had about 8-10 line slots while 'Will Call / VIP' had 2 lines. One line for A-M and another for N-Z. I would guess a 3rd of the crowd was Will Call so that just didn't work. They opened up more lines eventually and that made a big difference. I hope next year they expand the "Will Call" to more slots. On with the beer. By god there was a ton of it. Almost 100 breweries from around the world were represented this year. Upon entry you could see the main row of tents and each tent had about 4 choices per. While the lines were long, they went fast for the most part and I was able to sample quite a bit of the vendors. There were also other brewers off to the left of the entrance. In addition there was plenty of food to choose from. I had some corn dogs... Mmmmm and went back for more samples. All in all a great way to spend part of the afternoon. You couldn't ask for a better weather either. It was literally a perfect temperature for an outdoor event of this type. I can't wait until next year.

    For $35 ($15 for non-drinkers) you can come here and they'll give you a little glass. Then all the…read morevendors will put beer in your glass. This is basically the greatest thing ever. As much as you can handle! Great local and national brews! Homebrew is also here giving some basic classes, tips and holding home brewing Q&A. Getting here early is not necessarily the best thing as the lines tend to be long early on, but in the last few hours once all have had their fill, the lines are virtually nonexistent. Good way to spend a few hours, great job Norfolk!

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    Virginia Beer Festival
    Virginia Beer Festival
    Virginia Beer Festival

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    Harborfest - festivals - Updated May 2026

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