Olde Towne Portsmouth is shutting down more than five blocks on October 10 for the second annual High Street Fest, a free, family-friendly street party running from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. with live music, food trucks and a breakdancing battle filling out the historic district's main commercial corridor.
The festival stretches from Water Street to Effingham Street and along Court Street from Queen Street to King Street, according to WAVY.com. The event drew nearly 6,550 visits during its debut last year, when High Street Fest launched as part of Portsmouth's Main Street Initiative to boost downtown foot traffic, per the City of Portsmouth. This year's edition is co-presented by PortsEvents, an affiliate of the Portsmouth Partnership, and the city itself, with funding from the Levitt Foundation and sponsorship from Portsmouth Economic Development.
Music Stages, a Breakdancing Battle and a Kids Zone
Organizers have laid out two live music stages, one at Green Street and one at Dinwiddie Street, plus a breakdancing battle at the intersection of High and Washington streets, according to the event's own entertainment listing at High Street Festival. A Kids Zone is set up on the 300 block for family activities, while the 700 block near Cure Coffeehouse and Post Secondary Brewing becomes an adult-oriented High Street Social Zone.
The scheduled lineup of performers includes Bubba Ward, Better By Tuesday, Anthony Rosano & The Conqueroos, Rocky 7, Fox and the Bear, The Band Monarch, and PopRock, the report notes. More than 50 food trucks will line the closed streets alongside al fresco dining, street performers and family activities, filling out a day the festival's own promotional materials describe as offering live music, food, shopping and community activities.
Liz Pasqualini, Portsmouth's main street director, said High Street Fest celebrates the city's people, businesses, creativity and sense of community. She's inviting neighbors from across Hampton Roads to spend the day in Olde Towne, discover something new and experience the festival's energy.
A 1752 Street Built for Exactly This
High Street itself has unusual bones for a modern street festival. The thoroughfare was laid out in 1752 by Col. William Crawford on 65 acres of plantation land, platted on a grid system with a 100-foot-wide main street modeled after the commercial spine of Portsmouth, England, according to the Olde Towne Portsmouth history blog. Crawford reserved the original intersection of High and Court streets for public use, with corners set aside for a church, courthouse, jail and market.
That colonial-era planning left Olde Towne with the largest concentration of intact 18th- and 19th-century residential period homes between Alexandria, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina, per the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, which notes the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Getting There: Parking, Ferry and Open Containers
Olde Towne offers free parking for festival-goers, and visitors can also arrive by rideshare, public transit or the Elizabeth River Ferry, per the WAVY.com report. Anyone planning to take the ferry from Norfolk should note a temporary service change: construction at Waterside Dock has required riders to dock at Harbor Park and transfer via shuttle bus or light rail since September 8, according to Hampton Roads Transit.
Once on the ground, adults 21 and older can take advantage of Portsmouth's Sip & Stroll provisions, buying alcoholic beverages in designated cups from participating businesses and carrying them within event boundaries, per the festival's entertainment page. Full entertainment schedules, a festival map, vendor information and event updates are posted at highstfestival.com.
