NORFOLK, Va. — After a quiet and restricting year with the coronavirus pandemic, the community is itching to get out to the Norfolk Festevents festivals at Town Point Park with fewer COVID-19 mandates.
Norfolk Festevents organizers say you won't have to wear a mask, especially if you're fully vaccinated after releasing its 2021 schedule. Norfolk Festevents's Marketing Director, Jordan Lett, said it was a challenge to keep the festivals going with COVID-19 safety in mind.
"It was more about social distancing, wearing masks, making sure that food service and service at the bars and things like that was all covered," said Lett. "We're looking forward to kind of getting back to pre-COVID."
As the federal and state COVID-19 safety mandates dropped quickly in late Spring, Lett says the organization made quick pivots for this season's lineup of events. He says with the events being outdoors in the open air, they feel comfortable following the latest guidance from the CDC when it comes to the festivals.
"We're going to be going back 100-percent capacity and these are large gatherings, but you can still expect things like hand sanitizers and encouraging people, if you feel safer wearing a mask, wear a mask," said Lett. "If you're fully vaccinated and don't want to wear a mask, you're not required to wear a mask."
Norfolk's Town Point Park will play host to dozens of events from Fourth of July picnics to a wine festival. Lett and his team say they are excited to see the positive economic impact return to the Downtown Norfolk area.
"It's been such a breath of fresh air and relief to be meeting downtown with our business partners, coming up with promotions that we can be doing with each other, and how we can be working with each other going forward," said Lett.
Here are the events happening at Town Point Park in 2021:
- Juneteenth in the Park Saturday, June 19
- Fourth Of July Great American Picnic & Fireworks presented by Southern Auto Group Sunday, July 4
- Norfolk Latino Music & Food Festival Saturday, July 24
- VSO Concert in the Park presented by TowneBank in partnership with the Patricia & Douglas Perry Foundation Sunday, July 25
- Norfolk Waterfront Jazz Festival presented by Optima Health Friday & Saturday, August 20 & 21
- NashFest Music & Food Festival Saturday, September 18
- Virginia Children’s Festival presented by Optima Health Saturday, October 2
- Fall Town Point Virginia Wine Festival Saturday & Sunday, October 16 & 17
- Holiday Yule Log Bonfire & Christmas Marketplace Saturday, December 4
While most of these events are free and open to the public, some of them do require tickets including the Jazz Festival and Wine Festival. To purchase tickets, you can head to the Festevents website here, and click Tickets.