Festival Park to open Saturday where tornados destroy buildings 4 years earlier in downtown Suffolk

Posted: Aug 1, 2024 / 08:36 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 2, 2024 / 12:02 AM EDT

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Downtown Festival Park will officially open Saturday in Suffolk nearly four years to the day that tornados destroyed the buildings that sat on the land for nearly a century.

Suffolk Parks & Recreation is inviting all to come out to the nearly two-acre park at the corner of West Washington and Saratoga streets in downtown at 5 p.m.

There will be food trucks and cover band as the city also celebrates 50 years of its merger with Nansemond County.

A time capsule will be buried and you can also “Make Your Mark” by signing the arches at the park to commemorate the milestone, according to the city.

“It’s an exciting feeling,” said Kevin Hughes, deputy city manager for Suffolk. “This has changed the landscape of downtown, and it will continue to do so. This road and this block itself, it just feels different. There’s a new wave of excitement. Folks are really excited about it.”

The park won’t be finished this weekend. There are still light poles that need to be installed, and the arches aren’t yet in the their final form, according to Hughes.

With the total cost approaching $2 million, Hughes feels it will be money will spent.

And the first festival in the park Saturday will be an ode to the city’s 50th anniversary — 50 Fest.

Aside from the 1970s cover band, there will be a 70s costume contest and various raffles with retro prizes. The celebration continues after the concert with a screening of the 1978 movie, Superman at 8:30 p.m., on a 40-foot movie screen.

Guests are invited to bring a chair or a blanket, but coolers and outside alcoholic beverages are not permitted.

Downtown Festival Park Time Capsule Inventory