As part of the "From Africa to Virginia" Lecture Series, Robert Watson, Hampton University Assistant Professor of History, will present "From Sunup to Sundown: The Experiences of Africans and African Americans in Colonial Virginia." The free public lecture begins at 2 p.m. Reservations recommended at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

As part of the "From Africa to Virginia" Lecture Series, Lorena S. Walsh, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Historian and Author, will present "Virginia's Slave Trade: Who, When, Where, and How Many?" The free public lecture begins at 2 p.m. Reservations recommended at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

As part of the "From Africa to Virginia" Lecture Series, Tommy L. Bogger, Norfolk State University Director of Harrison B. Wilson Archives, will present "Blacks' Response to the Revolutionary Impulse in Norfolk and Vicinity, 1775-1781." Free public lecture begins at 2 p.m. Reservations recommended at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

Re-enactment groups depicting soldiers and military encounters throughout history join forces with modern-day veterans and active units to demonstrate camp life, tactics and weaponry. The weekend event features a children's parade on Saturday and a military pass-in-review on Sunday.

As part of the "Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies" Lecture Series, Bermuda filmmaker Lucinda Spurling will present "The Lion and the Mouse... the Story of America and Bermuda." The free public lecture begins at 7 p.m.; reservations required at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

A jointly sponsored event at Jamestown Settlement & Historic Jamestowne

Maritime demonstrations, military drills, archaeology, and programs on English and Powhatan Indian contact and exploration and discovery mark the 1607 founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony. Separate admission to Jamestown Settlement & Historic Jamestowne.  

Implements used for farming, fishing, hunting, defense, navigation and building by people of 17th- and 18th-century Virginia are examined through interpretive programs and hands-on activities.

As part of the "Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies" Lecture Series, Lorri Glover, Author and University of Tennessee Professor of History, will present "The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America." The free public lecture begins at 7 p.m.; reservations required at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

Tactical drills, military exercises and role-playing demonstrations salute America during the Fouth of July holiday weekend. Visitors can learn about the sacrifices of our nation's founders, including those who signed the Declaration of Independence.

As part of the "Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies" Lecture Series, Michael Jarvis, University of Rochester Associate Professor of History, will present "Sister Colonies: Virginia, Bermuda, and the Beginnings of English America." The free public lecture begins at 7 p.m.; reservations required at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

Games, storytelling and other diversions of 17th- and 18th-century Virginia are shown through hands-on activities and interpretive programs. Visitors can play corncob darts, ninepins, quoits, mancala and nine-men's morris.

As part of the "Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies" Lecture Series, Tom Butterfield, Founding Director of The Masterworks Foundation, will present "Somewhere Beyond the Sea: Art, Artists, and Bermuda." The free public lecture begins at 7 p.m.; reservations required at (757) 253-4415 or rsvp.lecture@jyf.virginia.gov.

A festive day of children's 17th-century games, music, juggling, stilt walking, magic, puppet shows, storytelling and hands-on crafts.

Military life and artillery demonstrations mark the 228th anniversary of America’s momentous Revolutionary War victory at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781. To experience Continental Army life firsthand, visitors can enroll in “A School for the Soldier” to drill with wooden muskets and apply tactical skills in mock combat, as well as learn about soldiers’ provisions and sleeping quarters.  Special programs also are held in Yorktown and at Yorktown Battlefield, administered by the National Park Service.

Virginia foodways are featured during this three-day event beginning on Thanksgiving Day. At Jamestown Settlement, learn how food was gathered, preserved and prepared on land and at sea by Virginia’s English colonists and Powhatan Indians. At the Yorktown Victory Center, learn about typical soldiers’ fare during the American Revolution and trace the bounty of a 1780s farm from field to kitchen

Holiday traditions of 17th- and 18th-century Virginia are recalled through special interpretive programs. At Jamestown Settlement, a film and guided tours compare and contrast English Christmas customs of the period with how the season may have been observed in the difficult early years of the Jamestown colony. At the Yorktown Victory Center, hear accounts of Christmas and winter in military encampments during the American Revolution and glimpse holiday preparations on a 1780s Virginia farm.