Advertisement
Roanoke Island Festival Park

Roanoke Island Festival Park

Roanoke Island Festival Park
4.5
Historic Walking AreasShipsHistory Museums
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Experience a new adventure in an old-world at Roanoke Island Festival Park. This 25-acre historic site allows guests of all ages to experience first hand what life was like for the first English settlers in 1585. Historic costumed interpreters are featured through Indian Town, the Settlement Site and the Elizabeth II ship to show and tell how the first settlers lived, worked and played on Roanoke Island. For a hands-on history lesson, visit the Adventure Museum that features interactive exhibits that all ages will enjoy. The park also serves as a venue for concerts, events and weddings in the indoor theatre or outdoor waterfront pavilion. Whether you’re enjoying the museum or an outdoor concert, Festival Park offers a stunning location with piers, nature trails and picturesque views at every turn. Experience an unforgettable adventure on the Outer Banks at Roanoke Island Festival Park – where history comes alive.
Duration: 2-3 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
The area
Address
Reach out directly

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles525 reviews
Excellent
265
Very good
163
Average
73
Poor
14
Terrible
10

TDNY
Canandaigua, NY241 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
This might be a much cooler place when we're not in the end of a pandemic, but with so many of the interactive exhibits closed it's really not that engaging or exciting for kids. The outdoor exhibits (long house, black smith's shop) aren't terribly exciting, and the museum looks like there are lots of hands on activities that have been removed (historic costumes, duck hunting). It is a nice break from the beach (or if your weather happens to be 50 degrees and cloudy during spring break). But I would love to see it when it's not mostly closed.
Written 1 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

80237travel
Denver, CO2,065 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021
I had high expectations since the NPS-administered historic site is basic and doesn't have much.

While the smallish adventure museum here was fascinating and informative, the rest of the festival park was a tourist trap.

Sure, there's a ship but that's about it. The entire open-air English Settlement is one hut and stocks. No replica houses, no replica fort, no musket firings or any kind of historic interpretation beyond a blacksmith. There is more curated exhibits in the open-air park on Indians than the English.

For the price, I'd say skip it. The owners and management should go up to Jamestown Settlement and see how it's done. This place has so much potential. It's vastly underutilized.
Written 13 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

virginiatraveler024
Virginia25 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022
Close to a total bust. My kids normally love living history sites. We went to the ones in Jamestown and Yorktown three years ago and they still rave about it. But we would have been better off just going to the FREE national park site and playing miniature golf.

It was $50 to take 2 adults and 3 kids. The place was very small, and almost none of it was operational. They had three total people working in the living history place. Only one really told us anything. There were multiple “try this” spots for kids that lacked the equipment to “try this.”

Honestly, don’t go.
Written 25 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are sorry to hear about your experience and will be working with our staff to address the issues you mentioned in your review. This is out of the ordinary for us and we want to make sure all of our guests have a wonderful time at the park.
Written 28 July 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

screw you
Westover, MD1,607 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021 • Couples
Took the tour and saw the Indian settlement, Elizabeth II and a number of activities for that era. Lot of interesting information provided about the Algonquin Indian culture and life, English life style ( active black Smith and wood worker) Has a onsite museum and some really interesting and educational videos. Restroom on site, shop and plenty of parking.
Written 31 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Written 1 June 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

kim982
Cleveland, Ohio38 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2019
Went here with my family, including a 4 and 6 year-old. All of us enjoyed the park. The museum had a lot of information about historical Roanoke and was a nice way to cool off for a bit. The interpreters on the ship and in the colony interacted very well with my nephews, showing them what types of games were played back then on the ship and letting them use tools in the colony. Enjoyable time for all!
Written 7 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for visiting and for the kind review!
Written 1 June 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

klgwhite
Charlotte, NC60 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2023 • Family
This looks like it used to be much nicer. It was pretty run down with only 3 "costumed reenactors" in the entire park. The exhibits looked like they used to have interactive components but those seem to be long gone. What was there was very dingy and sparse. For the cost, I definitely expected more. The blacksmith was great though and took the time to talk with us about the time period and have a conversation with us.
Written 20 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Gwen G
Chillicothe, OH290 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
I have to agree with the previous review that says this place is lacking. We really liked the ship, there were three guides on board to answer questions and tell history stories. We loved that there were hands on exhibits in the Indian Village and Settlement parts, but sadly many exhibits were missing pieces or broken so we could not participate (for example there were no oysters to use to hollow out the canoe). The Settlement was very sparse, really the only building was the blacksmith shop. The Blacksmith really knew his stuff and was very interesting to talk to. For the admission price that is charged we really expected more.
Written 15 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Gwen. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We will work with our staff to make sure the issues you stated are addressed and resolved.
Written 28 July 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Amusementparkguy
Pataskala, OH1,466 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Friends
A friend and I vacationed in the Outer Banks region for the first time, and this is one of the highlights. It gives visitors a glimpse of life in early America before colonial times.
The character actors area a very nice touch to help make history come alive. I highly recommend this to all who are in the area.
Written 13 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jo-Anne A
Blandford, MA2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Couples
The history of Roanoke is so interesting and the staff share the history in such a witty and informative way- it's easy to become completely engrossed. The blacksmith and the carver were especially interesting. Along the trails are relics and historical trinkets with informative plaques. There are also hands on activities such as cording , weaving and tying linen and hyde pieces to a Native American living structure. A great place for people of all ages!
Written 5 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dylan B
Saxapahaw, NC10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
Easily one of the coolest places I've ever seen a concert! Absolutely beautiful, especially with the big glass window behind the musicians looking out onto the ocean. Sound was fantastic too - will 100% be back!
Written 31 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 521
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

ROANOKE ISLAND FESTIVAL PARK (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

All things to do in Manteo
Zoos & Aquariums in ManteoTheatre & Concerts in ManteoDay Trips in Manteo
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire