THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504200679
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
THERE'S POMP and circumstance. There's pageantry and flowers. Sometimes there's rain.
Norfolk's International Azalea Festival is again about to bloom. Starting Sunday and continuing through April 30, the city will celebrate its 42nd annual salute to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This year's most honored nation is Great Britain. Festivities will be reigned over by Queen Rebecca Temperley.
While there will be an impressive array of fanfare, for some Norfolk residents the event passes with only a look overhead to the air show or a glimpse of the parade on television.
``I've never been to the ball, to the parade or the Botanical Garden,'' one Norfolk native said. ``I'm a total Norfolkian who takes the festival for granted.''
That sentiment is common among many longtime Norfolk residents.
This lack of enthusiasm is something festival officials are hoping to quell.
``In some ways we've gotten a bad rap,'' said Richard Baker, the festival's embassy events chairman. ``Some people think that it's just a bunch of cocktail parties, kind of an elitist thing. This year we're making a major effort to make it a significant event for the entire local community.''
Festival administrators have assembled a roster of activities designed to bring out more natives, Baker said. Some of the approximately two dozen events are new. Others have been expanded. Most cost little or nothing to attend.
Among the highlights is a free concert by the Royal Marines Band at 8:15 p.m. April 26 at the Harrison Opera House. The group was formed in Great Britain 200 years ago and now performs around the world.
``The band is absolutely terrific,'' said Capt. Richard Meryon, of NATO's Supreme Allied Command Atlantic (SACLANT) and an Azalea Festival Committee member. ``I don't expect to see an empty seat in the house.''
The annual parade, expanded this year, begins on City Hall Avenue at the corner of Bank Street at 7:30 p.m. April 28. The procession will be the largest in the festival's history, with approximately 100 units, including the elaborate floats of NATO's 16 member nations, culminated by the queen and her entourage. This will be the first year the parade is being held at night.
``We felt having the parade at night would improve attendance and help promote a family weekend in downtown Norfolk,'' said Anne Lankford, 1995 Azalea Festival chairperson. ``It's a good way to show off what downtown has to offer.''
The parade's grand marshal is Anne Donovan, former Old Dominion University women's basketball great and a recent inductee to basketball's Naismith Hall of Fame.
Another key event is NATOFest from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. April 29 at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The daylong party is a cultural and entertainment celebration of the NATO nations. Two stages will feature British bands and theater groups along with performers from other NATO countries, including a Turkish belly-dancing act. New for NATOFest 1995 is a British car rally featuring some of the nation's most vintage automobiles. There also will be rugby, soccer and croquet demonstrations, food and beverages from member countries, and children's activities.
The afternoon will be capped at 3 p.m. with Queen Rebecca's coronation by the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Robin Renwick. The emcee of the crowning is Dr. William Whitehurst, a former U.S. congressman from Virginia. The cost for NATOFest is the garden's $2.50 admission fee.
``NATOFest offers something for everyone,'' Lankford said. ``A major goal of the festival is to familiarize our community with the traditions of the NATO member nations.''
For naval buffs, there will be free public tours on the HMS Richmond from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. April 27-30 at the Nauticus pier. The ship is the British Royal Navy's state-of-the-art anti-submarine frigate. This marks the vessel's first trans-Atlantic voyage.
The annual dinner and ball, attended by the queen and her court and many military and civilian dignitaries, is open to anyone willing to pay the $85-a-person ``tariff,'' Lankford said.
The April 29 black-tie affair is by far the ritziest and costliest event of the festival. The gala begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel Waterside. The hotel's grand ballroom will be transformed into an English garden scene by nationally renowned local artist Gene Schull. Dinner will feature British cuisine and wines. A range of popular music will be provided by The Entertainers.
For those hoping to follow the queen, put on your running shoes. Between formal obligations and appearances, she will tour the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, the Lafayette Villa retirement community, the Louise Eggleston Center, the Hermitage Museum and other city landmarks. On April 24, she'll take in some British fare at Reggie's British Pub in Waterside.
``The queen will need her stamina,'' Lankford noted.
Queen Rebecca Temperley is a 25-year-old student at the College of Law in London. She is taking the place of the festival's original queen, Polly Astor, granddaughter of Lady Astor, the first female member of Britain's Parliament. Astor had to cancel after contracting mononucleosis. This is the second time in the festival's history that the queen has been replaced. In 1971, Sarah Churchill, granddaughter of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, refused the title because of her sentiments against the war in Vietnam.
The queen isn't the only British citizen on a mission. Throughout festival week, a company of British officers from SACLANT will be conducting seminars on British culture, government and education in Norfolk schools and colleges.
``We're very keen on penetrating Norfolk city life and sharing British culture with the citizens and students,'' said Meryon, who will be conducting a student forum on NATO at 7 p.m. April 25 at Virginia Wesleyan College.
NATO was formed in 1949 as a military coalition of 16 member nations to confront the Soviet Union after World War II, Meryon said. The founding principle rests on the axiom: ``An attack on any one nation constitutes an attack on every nation.''
The organization has two military headquarters, one in Mons, Belgium, and the other in Norfolk, Va. The body's political center is in Brussels, Belgium. The Azalea Festival was set up by the city of Norfolk in 1954 to honor NATO's headquarters here. Each year, the event salutes one member nation.
While the celebration is ranked as one of the Southeast's top 20 festivals by Southern Living Magazine, and approximately 200,000 people are expected to attend some portion of the weeklong ceremony, officials are not content to live on the event's laurels. They are hoping their push to offer something for everyone will strengthen local turnout and appreciation.
``I think we've put together a good range of activities,'' Meryon said. ``We at NATO want the whole city to enjoy the festival's benefits, not just the VIP types.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
The HMS Richmond, the British Royal Navy's state-of-the-art
anti-submarine frigate, can be toured April 27-30 at Nauticus.
Rebecca Temperley, Queen Azalea XLII
Her coronation will be at the Norfolk Botanical Garden
This 1953 Bentley, owned by Chesapeake resident Ivie Lister, will be
on display at the British car rally at NATOFest.
The Royal Marines Band, which performs around the world, will play a
free concert at the Harrison Opera House on April 26.
The Horatio Nelson Consort of Norfolk, England, will perform a
number of concerts throughout the 42nd Azalea Festival.
Graphic
AZALEA FESTIVAL'S PUBLIC EVENTS SCHEDULE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB