THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505250188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
If you're heading out to strawberry country this weekend, or more specifically, the 12th annual Strawberry Festival, remember, you won't be alone.
About 185,000 people will be right with you, all looking for fun, entertainment and plenty of red, ripe strawberry treats.
Getting there isn't hard, but you might want to be creative with your parking plans.
There are 40,000 parking spots at the festival's three parking lots.
The cost to park at the festival lots is $4 per vehicle. The lots at the Pungo Air Strip on Princess Anne Road, Princess Anne and Indian River roads and Princess Anne Road at Muddy Creek Road, are open to the public.
A special handicapped parking lot, at Central Fidelity Bank at the corner of Princess Anne and Indian River roads, will also be open during normal festival hours, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday .
Those with the handicap parking decals, as well as senior citizens, are invited to park in the lot for free and a golf cart shuttle service will be available to help with transportation needs to the festival site.
Another parking alternative for the Memorial Day festival is a park and ride lot at the Municipal Center at Princess Anne and North Landing roads. Parking at the lot is free but the cost of a round-trip shuttle ride to the festival site is $2 for adults and $1 for children under 6. The shuttle service will run every 15 minutes.
For those interested in attending tonight's Festival Carnival that opens at 5 p.m., parking for the carnival only will be in the lot at the corner of Princess Anne and Muddy Creek roads.
Other festival-associated activities begin tonight with a festival kick-off and free concert by the Virginia Symphony Pops at 7 p.m. at the 24th Street Park at the Oceanfront.
Another popular event is the Grand Parade - featuring 110 units including marching bands, floats and veterans groups - at 11 a.m. on Saturday through downtown Pungo.
Continuing through the weekend are a country exhibit area and demonstrations, arts and crafts shows with more than 100 artisans and craftsmen, youth art exhibit, a Ruritan Country Auction (held throughout the weekend), 4-H displays and a petting zoo, continuous entertainment on three stages, agricultural exhibits, pony rides, pig racing, health screenings, senior citizens area, Civil War encampment area with cannons and horses, an Armed Forces display area, an old-fashioned steam engine exhibit and antique engine display, diaper-changing area and parent rest area, llama exhibit, Elizabethan exhibit and a special hand-cancellation of mail at the festival by the post office.
Popular Sunday events include the 8 a.m. Strawberry Festival 5K and 1-mile runs; a 1 p.m. strawberry pie eating contest; and at noon final judging of the Johnson & Wales University Strawberry Cook-Off.
For more information on the festival, including parking and traffic updates, call 721-6001. ILLUSTRATION: File photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Emily Martin, 3, sinks her teeth into ice cream - strawberry, of
course - at last May's Strawberry Festival in Pungo.
by CNB