Ronaoke Island Festival Park

Roanoke Island Festival Park

Twenty-three years before Jamestown, there was Roanoke Island. The settlement didn’t survive, but the history, adventure and family fun did. Roanoke Island Festival Park is an interactive family attraction that celebrates the first English settlement in America. The centerpiece of the 25-acre island park, across from the Manteo NC waterfront, is the Elizabeth II, a representation of one of the seven English ships from the Roanoke Voyage of 1585. Climb aboard and help set the sails, plot your course and swab the decks! Also visit the Settlement Site and try a straw and feather beds, woodworking, and games. See the blacksmith fashion his 16th century wares. Explore 400 years of Outer Banks history in the interactive Roanoke Adventure Museum, for all ages. See the Legend of Two-Path film and the American Indian Town. The town features opportunities for guests to learn about the vital and vibrant culture, heritage, and traditions of the American Indians in our region. It includes a wide variety of true-to-scale structures, role-play environments, and places to explore, plant, dance, build and play.

Experience the RIFP Performance Series – from mesmerizing musicians to amazing magicians, and delightful dancers to soulful singers, a variety of performances are scheduled year round. The series is available to all campuses of the University of North Carolina system. The talent is top-notch, and the drama, music and dance performances are free and open to the public.

The Museum Store at Roanoke Island Festival Park is more than your typical museum store featuring a wide variety of park-inspired items and souvenirs: nautical gifts, period toys and games. Also, jewelry, North Carolina books, local art and crafts.

Enjoy the on-site Art Gallery, with monthly changing exhibits, the Fossil Pit, Museum Store, Outer Banks History Center and marsh-side boardwalks that surround the site. Walk across the bridge to the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum, just a block away in Downtown Manteo, which features a working boathouse and the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse. Admission charged. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For More information call (252) 475-1506 or visit roanokeisland.com.

Roanoke Island Festival Park Features

• An interactive family attraction that celebrates the first English settlement in America
• The centerpiece of the 25-acre island park, adjacent to the Manteo waterfront, is Elizabeth II, a representation of one of the seven English ships from the Roanoke Voyage of 1585. Costumed Elizabethan sailors greet visitors and help them experience sixteenth century seafaring life.
• Explore the American Indian Town and learn of the Coastal Algonquian culture.
• In the Settlement site, live the life of a 16th century settler- see wood-working and blacksmithing and games.
• ee The Legend of Two Path, a docudrama depicting what American Indians might have felt like during colonization.
• The Roanoke Adventure Museum has 400 years of Outer Banks history.
• The Performance series brings free entertainment throughout the year in our indoor film theatre and the outdoor pavilion.
• An Art Gallery, fossil pit, Museum Store and Outer Banks History Center
• Marsh-side boardwalks surround the island.
• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission charged for attraction venues. $ 8 adults; $5 students 6- 17 and free for children 5 and under. For additional information, call (252) 475-1506, (252) 475-1500 or visit us online at roanokeisland.com.