Hampton Roads Bay Days
By Melissa L. Commodore, 09.16.05

Virginia Beach, VA - Many people swarmed the streets of Downtown Hampton Saturday night, to watch the Bay Days fireworks display. They lined the sidewalks viewing the various exhibits, waiting for their chance to taste the food. Kids ran to stand in line for carnival rides, while others snapped their fingers to the beat of Bo Diddley.

The Hampton Roads area held their 23rd annual Hampton Bay Days Festival this past weekend. Bay Days is a three-day community event that takes place in the month of September. With the sponsorship of many local businesses, this years festival offered a plethora of arts and crafts exhibits, food and live entertainment covering ten city blocks.

“It’s the sense of community and family that makes coming down here so enjoyable,” Dedrick Hopkins said, a Real Estate Agent in Yorktown, Va.

“It is one of the largest family oriented festivals on the East Coast,” Heather Dunton said, Executive Director for Hampton Bay Days. “It takes 365 days a year to plan.”

One of the features that keep Hopkins coming back is the live musical entertainment.

“I am looking forward to next year’s entertainment line up, because I want to see some familiar African American artists like the “Four Tops” and the “Manhattans,” he said.
There were an estimated 2,050 people to attend the Festival this year.
Bay Days is held the weekend after Labor Day in September each year.

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