Roanoke Island Festival Park Concerts

For some reason google shows two locations for this area. One a museum an one a park. The pictures are mixed. It’s the same place. For the price an what they offer it was pretty cool. We bought tickets at the window. Spent about an hour here. It was not busy on a Saturday late afternoon. They are not open Sunday or Monday. So plan accordingly if your coming out for a weekend. The staff were wonderful. We asked tons of questions. So we got answers lol. The museum is split into two. One half is a walking interactive outside park with a boat an a little town etc while the other is inside an you can touch an play on stuff. My 4yr old had a blast. I simplified it for my kid to understand an let him enjoy emerging himself into playing. Wear bug spray. You have been warned!!!! Bathrooms are before the outside portion to the left.

The staff are not very helpful or seem like they want to be there. When we entered to purchase tickets the lady at the desk did not direct us where to go and there were no maps or signs that we could see. We accidentally wandered into the historical society thinking that was part of the museum. The spot we were supposed to go in through we had initially avoided due to a large red stop sign, but it turned out when you came closer there was fine print just making sure anyone that came through there had bought a ticket first. Beyond that there were no signs or staff directing us to start there. The Indian village exhibits were missing a lot of parts to activities and the video that was supposed to be playing in one of the long houses was out of order. We were pretty disappointed with the Indian exhibits and felt like there should have been more artifacts or images displayed either in the village or at the adventurer museum given that Roanoke and the Outer Banks was home to Native Americans. When we went aboard the ship there were three actors/staff members aboard. We had expected them to give a talk about the ship and some information, but they only said to ask if we had any questions. If you asked them questions they seemed to know quite a bit about the ship, but the problem is you have to know what questions to ask. It would have been a better experience if they gave a talk especially since it was just a few of us on board and not a very busy day for them. When we went to the settlement site there was a gentleman in the black smith house demonstrating how to make a nail. This was interesting and entertaining, however he seemed rather annoyed with us being there and got snappy at some of the visitors. When a visitor had asked a question about why the English spent time creating elaborate wooden furniture for a struggling colony he went on a rant and seemed to mock them. I couldn't tell if this was him trying to play a character or if he was just being that abrasive. Going on board the ship and putting into perspective the size of what 30-50 people lived on for the 3.5 month trip from England to America was really the only thing worth while for us. Everything else in the museum and the outdoor exhibits seemed extremely lacking for us and not worth it.

We thought the park was very nice. There is a big stage for a band too but think it was closed for the season. It was a great little walk for our pup too.

This venue is awesome! The staff was super helpful, the bathrooms were clean and seeing a show on the water was very cool. The parking is pretty terrible, so if you’re coming for a show be prepared to park in one of their secondary locations and either walk or take the complimentary shuttle. I’d absolutely come back to this location for future shows!

Great facilities! The staff is very kind and helpful! The events and concerts at the park are always a great success and fun! The grounds are always kept nice with fresh cut grass and beautiful flowers.