Harborfest

Didn't have anyone available to join so I came here by myself and still had an enjoyable time. From the vendors, to the shows and the food and drinks it was a great experience. The beautiful scenery of waterside with all the boats presents make it a great atmosphere of exploration. I recommend anyone who hasn't been to attend with a friend or family for a nice time.

This was a very fun event for us to attend. We loved walking around, looking, (maybe being slightly envious), of all the beautiful yatchs, ships, and boats. There were countless vendors here selling thier vittles, and plenty of tents selling alcohal. We attended Harborfest on the best day to attend...Saturday! Like every year there is a 25 minute fireworks show at 9:30pm, and it is comparable to 4th of July fireworks for sure. We got lucky and snagged some outside barstools at one of the restaurant that was facing the fireworks and the live band (Buckshot). So we got a front row view of the band and the fireworks and all the while sipping on cold drinks. I have only attended the last two years, but I will for sure be attending every year and bring my kids (when we have them) here as well.

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 activitiesincluding 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!

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!

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.

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

Fun time by the water's edge. So many varieties of vendors. We took the Harborfest as an opportunity to ride the ferry for the first time and take a spin of the Ferris wheel. With so many vendors to choose from we had an amazing day long excursion. Harborfest has live music, terrific food vendors, lots of crafts and a very varied crowd. Young, old... everyone was at Harborfest. Several blocks were shut down on both sides of the harbor and As long as you stayed within the parameters you could enjoy a leisurely stroll stopping from vendor to vendor with alcoholic beverages purchased AT one of the vendors participating in Harborfest. On a final note thank you to all the police, coast guard, etc who helped to ensure Harborfest was safe and remained family friendly for its duration. Just Incase this helps; absolutely NO PETS are allowed so plan accordingly. Happy Eating Yeeps!!

First time at Harborfest and I have to say that this fest is legit. There's lots of food stands ranging from dipping dots, to bbq, to pizza, to sea food and of course funnel cake, because a festival is not a festival without funnel cakes . As one would expect, this festival also had alcohol. Lots of mixed drinks and just a handful of selected beers. They ran out of blue moon and Stella way too early. But you still had the option of strongbow, Miller, Coors, and a few more. It goes without saying that there was lots of people in attendance, and I'm glad I got to meet Cindy, because she is the shit! As she lets us know during her check-in status, lol. In addition to all this great entertainment we have the main reason for harborfest, the boats. They had a couple of international boats, Peru and Ecuador, just to name a few. Oh yea I almost forgot, they also have a stage with great country music and some islanders music to set the mood right.

This years Harborfeast was the first annual Harborfeast. It is basically a preview of Harborfest. Harborfeast had advertised itself as an all you can eat seafood and all you can drink (beer and wine included) event. All of the businesses near the waterside had fliers for the event. Nothing on the fliers said that it the event had a limited amount of tickets being sold. The event was scheduled to start at 6pm on June 10, 2010. We arrived at 5:45pm to buy tickets in person (they were on sale online at a discount of $5 off). There were five people in line ahead of us and after selling less than a handful of tickets they told all of us waiting in line to buy tickets that the event had sold out of tickets. We were extremely disappointed that they never mentioned the event had very limited amount of tickets on their fliers otherwise we would have purchased our tickets ahead of time. I hope they learn their lesson to have more tickets available for sale in person for next year (if they hold the event again)

2018 Harborfest was awful. Only a handful of tall ship, unlike my visit a few years ago. Crowds, overpriced food, almost $40 for a ferris wheel ride for 2 adults and a child. Don't waste your time.