
DATE: Monday, June 9, 1997                  TAG: 9706090038

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  145 lines

HERE COMES THE SUN HARBORFEST AND SEAWALL FESTIVALS, WARM UP, DRAW MORE FOLKS SUNDAY.

The sun finally put in a full-scale festival appearance Sunday, invigorating crowds on both sides of the Elizabeth River and helping vendors salvage something from the coldest Harborfest/Seawall weekend ever.

``This is just so much nicer,'' said Eloise Baker of Norfolk as she escorted her two grandchildren through Town Point Park. ``I usually don't come on Sunday - I make it to the fireworks on Saturday every year, but that's usually all. But the last two days were just soooo gloomy, I had to bring the kids.''

Minutes after Harborfest opened at noon Sunday, Joyce and Al Hendrick, of Suffolk, had their shoes off, their lawn chairs up and their places saved in front of the Starboard Stage.

They are big Three Dog Night fans - a band that did not appear until 6 p.m.

``We certainly didn't want to miss them by getting caught in traffic or something,'' said Joyce Hendrick, a cold beer in her left hand. And ``it was such a nice day, we thought we'd come out early.''

Sunday's high of 63 - compared to other festival weekends in June - would have been considered unusually chilly by most standards. This time around, however, it was celebrated as delightfully warm after two days of leaden skies, temperatures in the 50s and gusty winds that made it all the chillier.

Longtime Harborfest-goers said Sunday's crowds actually appeared larger than is traditional.

``Sunday has been every bit as good if not better than previous years,'' said Karen Scherberger, executive director of Norfolk Festevents, which is staging the 21st annual Harborfest.

``We would rate this a very successful Harborfest,'' Scherberger said. ``In particular, with the weather conditions Friday and Saturday holding the crowd numbers down compared to previous years, we still had a significant turnout.''

Scherberger praised the crowd, too. ``The audience was much more family-oriented,'' she said. ``People seemed to take much better care of the park. . . . This is probably the most incident-free Harborfest in history.'' Police reported only a few minor incidents and no arrests.

As for sales, ``the vendors have done much better today,'' Scherberger said. ``But it's still a little too early to tell how they did compared to previous years. Even with the additional sales hours we gave them by staying open later, we expect overall sales to have been affected.''

Most vendors appeared to agree. While sales looked to be brisk Sunday, it seemed unlikely they would make up for Friday and Saturday.

Rick Waskey, co-owner of Beach Bully's, a roast beef sandwich vendor, was not at all disheartened, despite the weather.

``Anyone that didn't come down Saturday missed a good time,'' he said. ``Sales were off,'' he admitted. But his company will still post a profit, thanks in large part to the heavy Sunday crowds.

``Harborfest has become one of the biggest and most recognized festivals on the East Coast,'' Waskey said, ``and the people are great.''

The emergence of the sun made all the difference for vendor Jim Fellows as he hawked customized clip-on sunglasses.

``Yesterday there were nice crowds, but not too many people were interested in sun products,'' Fellows said. On Sunday, he sometimes had a half-dozen people at a time checking out his wares.

``I don't know if today's sales will make up for yesterday,'' Fellows said. But he was content to have just made people aware of his product and his local stores.

Others were not so circumspect.

``A disaster. It's been a disaster,'' said Karl Peterson of Norfolk, who was participating in his seventh and, he said, probably his last Harborfest.

``This is the worst ever. If I break even, I'll be lucky,'' said Peterson, who was operating Kimo's Real Hawaiian Shaved Ice. ``I don't think I'll be doing another one. Harborfest used to be special, but it's not anymore. You can come down here any weekend and find a festival. And with all the out-of-town vendors, there's no preference for local businesses.''

At least one vendor felt a bit of heartache for having lost the chillier conditions.

``You can't wish for bad weather,'' said Ray Arthur, who could sell but a few cappuccinos and gourmet coffees Sunday, ``but we sure had more people coming by before today.''

Even with the warmer weather, most people still favored long pants and heavy shirts or jackets Sunday.

T-shirt vendors reported generally good sales - especially of sweatshirts and long sleeves on Friday and Saturday.

PETA was the subject of one popular T-shirt on sale at Harborfest, but not in a way Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals might like.

Dan's Dive Center was selling shirts that showed a couple happy crabs with PETA defined as ``People Eating Tasty Animals.''

``They are going like hotcakes,'' said Dan Jeffries of Virginia Beach, adding: ``Meat is tasty!''

``Especially when you catch it yourself,'' said Cathy Augustine of Norfolk as her husband bought one of the shirts and she recalled a recent Outer Banks fishing trip.

In Portsmouth, Olivia Valdes was having a good time Sunday, if only by herself. Valdes was dancing alone to an old Beatles song at the Seawall Festival, whirling around the parking lot to the tinny refrain of ``All You Need Is Love.''

Did she mind everyone staring?

``Not at all,'' the Portsmouth resident said afterward, a bit out of breath. ``I love that song. They play the best music here. That's why I come back every year.''

The Seawall Festival usually draws about 100,000 people during its three-day run, even when it rains, said Linda Lamm, executive director of PortsEvents, which stages the event. On Sunday afternoon, as she scanned the thin lines at carnival rides and the small crowd watching live music, Lamm doubted the event this year would reach that norm.

``Our biggest time is usually Friday night, but the weather just kept most people away,'' Lamm said. ``Sunday is usually our big family day; we'll make a comeback today. But we won't get our usual numbers.''

Many folks were still talking about Saturday night's fireworks show, which went off as scheduled despite gusty winds. ``We fired off two test shells, one at 9:30 and another at 9:45, just to check the winds and make sure it was safe,'' said Robin Evens, a Festevents spokeswoman.

``It was the best I've seen in years,'' said J.R. Hilton, 21, of Portsmouth. ``The shells that took on shapes, like hearts and stuff, were really cool.''

The bottom line for both festivals was to have fun. And with a pink parrot on her arm, a pirate hat on her head and a group of strangers in the same unusual predicament all around her, that's what Sandra Szuda was after.

The Maryland resident, visiting friends in Norfolk over the weekend, had been dragged from the audience while watching an animal/comedy/magic show.

Now she was posing for a photograph with her new and equally embarrassed friends.

``Oh, well,'' she shrugged afterward. ``I guess that's one reason we came here. Have a little fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

WRAPPING UP A WEEKEND OF FESTIVALS

NHAT MEYER photos/The Virginian-Pilot

The Beatles impersonators of 1964: The Tribute reincarnated the Fab

Four at Portsmouth's Seawall Festival on Sunday. Paul McCartney,

left, is played by Gary Grimes; the George Harrison look-alike is

Jimmy Pou.

Spectators packed the Town Point area for Saturday's fireworks.

Among them: Garnie Thomas, left, of Norfolk and Stacy Smith of the

Beach, with the finale reflected in a window of the World Trade