Reviews of Roanoke Island Festival Park (Museum)

Jonathon Casey Griffith

Full of history and interactive displays, the park is a walk through early NC times in the 1500s.

Brenda Smith

Park is great! Police presence trying to leave was excessive.

Malissa Polk

Great historical place

Stephanie DeHaven

Very interactive! The cast and staff was great!

Brandon Yates

Hot outside! Neat exhibits with knowledgeable characters. :)

Tosha Mutter

Amazing place to visit! Very informative and the staff are very knowledgeable. I highly recommend this place!

Michele Prevette

Great place for a short trip. Great educational tour in the villages. The guides are great, involve the kids first hand and are quite entertaining. Restrooms are clean. We enjoyed our time.

Teresa Mumford

First time I had been here. I was amazing at how much there was to see. I really enjoyed the reenactments.

Lindsay morgan

Very cool place. Staff is awesome!

Tharan Mccravey

Awesome history lesson!

Shaunte Cales

Great place to take the family! We loved it

Chris Campau

Great show, cool spot

Laurie Rich

Lovely way to spend an afternoon. Lots of interesting exhibits and staff explaining early settlers' life. A great place for home schooling.

Jerry Buhl

Quiet atmosphere and knowledgable staff

Pataconaso

Lovelypkace, you can not miss it. Old houses, good classy restaurants and great views.

Nicole Hudson

Great place to learn about 1st settlers. Only give it 4 stars because some of the buttons on the exhibits didnt work

Danny McLeod

This place was one of the best educational attractions I have ever visited.

Jason Miller

Love this place, informative and educational while being fun and hands on, kids love it! Nice trail as well for walking.

Laura ntk

We greatly enjoyed our visit, the activities, beauty and food.

UH82NVME

Beautiful time. Very nice place to visit.

Angel Gaikwad

This is such a gorgeous place to walk around and visit! The town has the feel of being in a European or Caribbean port town. It is definitely worth taking the time to explore! Quiet, quaint little area away from the hustle and bustle of much of the OBX tourism.

Amy Weaver

Our kids were able to explore and run around freely while getting a history education! Everyone was so friendly and stayed in character no matter how much my kids tried to throw them off.

Paul Christian

Great place to learn about early American history!!

Cambria Hunter

This place was a fun venue to Kids Fest.

Alyssa Garrison

Very fun. People are very polite and the museum was a great experience.

DAVID GOBLE

Absolutely must see...

Christopher Kram

We live in Manteo and absolutely love out local history, if you visit it is s must see!! PS- just don't ask us directions we already lost one colony!

Walrus

Nice park and the price is reasonable. Great place to bring the kids.

Ice 2496

Loved the park and if you have ant questions about it, go read my adventure museum review. It had the details on it. Although, I did forger about the black smith. Their life is rough. But they are very skilled and learn their craft quickly and master it soon after based on some reports.

Karen Summers

Learned a lot. Very interesting

Gary Neal

Nice place to visit. Enjoy the boat tour and gun show.

Aivy league

Loved this! Gorgeous area with a good walk into the boardwalk/shops. The boat is so cool and learned a little history as well. A fun museum on the way out that is quite interactive.

Rich Fick

Enjoyed this setting for a family wedding

Stephen Bozeman

This is truly an amazing place to visit. Come alone or bring the whole family. The facilities are immaculate. The historical information is so abundant you can hardly take it all in. The people are amazing as well. So friendly and helpful.

Jeff Fetgatter

Nice park. Has some good historical areas to visit, a museum, and some trails and a ampitheater.

Jordan Chase

What a fun experience! There's so much history here that's so fascinating. The park is beautiful and well laid out, it's a delight to walk around. The period actors are great and informative.

Jyoti Misra

Nice display of life in olden days.. good hands on activities

Lena Cline

We had a party of 5 adults, one 10 year old, 3 preschoolers and a 2 year old. The interactive village was great. The blacksmith did a wonderful job explaining his job. The others did well too. The kids liked trying the different wood working activities. The ship was interesting but most actors didn't give information out freely. So it became lacking. The museum didn't hold the kids attention very well. They did love the interactive displays in the museum! We were done in an hour and a half.

Mychael Bulford

Great history walk through..

Tater Smith

Awesome experience! Anyone visiting the area should definitely put this place on their itinerary! This historical site resemble the same feeling as Williamsburg Virginia

Nick Priore

Great place, the staff were very nice and knowledgeable.

Angela Underwood

Was expecting a little more that what was there but it is a neatplace to visit.

Dianne Bowen

Was there during a wine festival. Loved all the shops and the museum

Joy Appenzellar

Awesome place! Fun for the entire family

Bethany Mills

Very pretty! I saw fireworks there on the 4th of July last year! Pretty park. Just wished more parking was available.

Shirlene Butler

A piece of history so befitting the Outer Banks. The Elizabethan Period History Museum & the Elizabeth 2 Replica Ship are wonderful to visit. And the outdoor displays are great.

Amy Salter

Beautiful venue for a wedding!

Jade Irving

Very cool place, with lots to learn about the history of Roanoke Island. The park is not too big, so you don't lose the attention of younger kids. There is a unique gift shop that has very wonderful staff. The bathrooms are clean and centrally located. Our favorite parts were the ship replica that is functional of Elizabeth II, the movie about the Island chiefs and the blacksmith in the settlement. Definitely a must visit for any history buff. We had a great time. They offer military/veteran discounts and the pass is good for 2 consecutive days.

Emma Tucker

My family and I loved this place. Lots of interesting information and interactive exhibits. My husband and I had a blast trying out the charade-like part, where you attempt to convey provided information without using words, in a manner similar to the way Native Americans and English settlers had to initially communicate. The employees stay very much in character, but don’t mind telling how modern methods differ from historic ones. We were fortunate to be able to observe a black powder gun demonstration. Definitely a gem!

gwynn merritt

Enjoy walking on the boardwalks to the water views

Carol Alexander

This was an interesting and educational place. The reenactors were knowledgeable and friendly. We had a good time learning about the ship. The queen Elizabeth II, and also the English settlement. There was also a museum and a nice gift shop.

Karen Haycraft

This was a fun day trip. Not busy when we were there so really got to interact with actors. Wish there were some actors in the indian village. Really felt lacking in content there. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Good value for the money spent.

Elizabeth Wike

We love visiting Manteo and the Roanoke Island Festival Park is always an added bonus!

Courtni Bella

Beautiful pier over the water I had an relaxing evening

Bill Schreiner

A great place. Don;t miss!

Abbie RaeLyn

a fun place to go with your family and a great venue for concerts! His Generation has a Christian concert here every year (2018 was TobyMac)! But you can rent it out for events as well! The museum is a fun walk-through but the archives are where the real fun is at! Go through photographs for hours on end from various people’s collections. Pictures from The Lost Colony Archives of the cast & crew are loads of fun to see and you can access them right at Festival Park!

Jay Nyce

Its always good to get a history lesson. Unfortunately you have to pay, but its worth the experience especially with the staff that pretends to live in that era

Gina Wheeler

Cute little way to learn about the history on Roanoke

Washington Rose

Great venue with a great backup facility in case of inclement weather.

Andrew Doss

Educational and fun. Great for both kids and adults!

Joy McCallister

Loved spending the day at the island bluegrass festival! We'd like to give a big shout out to all the staff! Friendliest people, made us feel so welcome!! Thank you!

Robert Adams

Beautiful family safe place. Lots of tourist however.

Gary Griffith

Really cool place. Glad we stopped

Kevin Croitz

Fascinating day of early English History of colonizing the New World, the ship the Elizabeth had people on board who really knew their stuff, the little village next door also had entertaining informative people there, the museum and gift shop were cool too

D V B

It was a fun experience for us and our 2 children. The gentleman at the beginning where the crops are was very friendly and informal. The Indian town was very neat and also very informal with the detailed signs and different displays. The gentlemen in the settlement area were very active with us and did their jobs very well by staying in character and being very thorough with their explanations of the different setups. The blacksmith made a nail for us to keep as a souvenir and it was very interesting to see how it was hand made. And boarding the Elizabeth ll was probably the biggest hit for the kids bc of them simply being able to go onto such a big boat. But for us adults...it was very beautiful and such a detailed setup of a boat replicating such a time long ago. Even down to just the simple little replica treasure boxes they allowed to kids to open up and play with. Even the lady at the desk where you buy your tickets was probably one of the sweetest ladies we encountered during our entire week stay at the obx. Definitely a place to visit for anyone interested in history.

John Couture

Lots of fun and lots to see. Live folks to tell you the history and demonstrate Blacksmithing and weaving and crops. Boat was very impactful when you crawl all over it to think they used vessels like that to travel further than I'd have been comfortable!

Ronny Cartwright

Beautiful a must visit while on the OBX

Susan Berger

Love their boardwalk

Mark Dixon

Could go back several times and still not do it all.

Gary Miller

Lots of history, quiet during the week. Busy now with tourists.

Carrie DeJesus

This was a really fun place to go it wasn’t an interactive educational experience. They had a free exhibit on pirates that we went for and enjoyed learning about Blackbeard. While we were there we paid the minima fee and spent several hours walking around learning about local history of both natives and settlers. It’s really neat they have people in period attire that explain the various parts. There is a replica merchant ship it is the actual size and you can walk on and explore the ship. Unfortunately most of pictures I took with my digital camera and as such don’t have as many pictures to post. Definitely check this place out with your family/kids.

Carrie Bobenhausen

A fantastic visit! Very much with the time and money! Great for adults and children

Nicole Kirtley

Nice to walk around. You have to pay to see the ship.

Debbie Wilcox

I love this place!! So much to do....

Joan Javernick

Lots of history in a fun way. I want to work here!

Sushil Tiwari

Serene is the synonym for this place. Good place to hangout, walk your dog, sweat your fat out, relax . what ever you can think of. We didnt get to see the sunrise but i heard its one of the places where you can view the rising sun. Definitely going back again.

B C

BRIAN CRISPIN SAYS, GREAT PLACE! ! ! ! ! and visit the PIGGLY WIGGLY while you are there!

Jane-Margaret Doan

Had a great time, fun for the whole family. Interactive exhibits and awesome actors.

Susan W

Fun and informative.

tony edmerson

Beautiful scenery, cute shops and the walk around the dock provides a beautiful scene

a traveling Mom

Was fun touring the ship. They had a settlers camp set up and explained weapons, punishments, tool building, and wood turning. You could try the wood turning and planing. The staff were in character and very friendly and informative.

Steve Os

Great place to visit to learn about the first colony. We loved the ship. Gift shop is very nice too!

Mike Green

Probably because we were here during the off season, but it just wasn't staffed very well. The ship was cool. The Settlement area was the best part because it was well staffed and the activities were a lot of fun. Everything else was just OK.

jeanette perez

Very cute

Carrie Bartley

Loved getting to go on the ship and village tour. Had a fabulous time. No kids needed.

Zenia Buffaloe

This is such a nice little town area with ice cream shops and home crafted stores. The Festival Park was a little curious to find if you didn't know there was a street to drive on parallel to the bridge you walk across to access parking further down. But it is a nice setup. Unfortunately, it rained very bad during the time we were to see the Gov't Mule band perform here live at the park. The venue is out in the open, which would be great during nice weather.

John Von Hagel

Victorian Gardens and ship were great. Museum shop had it all.

Tony Smith

My kids loved this place! There was alot to see here, and it was highly interactive. It was probably the highlight of their trip. They enjoyed the Elizabeth II, and really had fun exploring both the replica Native American village and English settlement. They really learned alot, and still talk about it.

Trey Sanders

Absolutely loved being able to board the vessel.... Elizabeth II. Showed just how tight the space was especially when all the people & cargo was loaded

Shinobinate

Fun historic place good for kids

Andy B.

Such a fun place to go! Loved seeing the ship and the outdoor exhibts! The staff and volunteers are all so friendly and kind. The lady in the gift shop went the extra step to find a shirt in my size. She was so helpful.

Nancy Damrow

It is a great place to learn history

April Murray

We enjoyed our visit and learned a lot!

Sean Cushman

Nice park with a museum and a nice boardwalk for a stroll on. Free parking if you are arriving by land and a dock you can dinghy to if arriving by sea close to the anchorage, town dock and town marina are both right next store.

Taryn H

We enjoyed coming. Something for all ages here.

Jose Soto

Awsome place for family and friends

Popeye Kahn

A very cool place to get a look back in time.

Wendy Bowers

Loved going through the museum.

Jenna A. Robinson

We all loved it--kids and adults. The interpreters were wonderful.

David Kessler

Beautiful venue. Bring a chair, can't bring umbrellas.

B T

Great stop to visit while in Manteo

Rob Sutton

Very informative! Activities for all ages

Jim Ankeny

Well done. Lots to see and do. Nice exibits and staff. Cool hands on stuff for kids and adults. Funny people in period persona.

Ken trekmario

Great information for the whole family

Gary Grant

Great place to learn history

Aaron Morris

Family enjoyed the visit, especially the adventure museum.

Pam Tru

A fun place to visit. Lots to do, places to see.

Ron Simpkins

Very wet. Rained pretty hard but Govt Mule was great. It was fun concert, great venue, good natured people.

Pat Dover

Wonderful little place blacksmith made each family a nail plenty of people to explain each display and reenact

Linne Marsh

Very fun interactive museum site. My kids loved it. We also enjoyed seeing a black powder rifle shot.

Justin Kelly

Not a whole lot there, but they focus on quality rather then quantity. Attend the scheduled events, like firing guns and blacksmith demos, they are entertaining for everyone

Debra McCusker

A very nice venue; beautiful views over the water and a great park for events.

alice croushorn

Everyone gracious. Film very informative

Scott Polanka

Very nice. Just wish they had a bit more local artifacts.

Jere Miles

Had a lot of fun here. The boat was really interesting to explore and the English village was fun. The Indian village was mostly broken and the gift shop was closed at the end. All in all it was not bad but could have been much better.

Southern Shores Realty

Been trying to get there for 3 years finally make it was a great time best fireworks ever

Jess D

Colony actors were by far the best part! Nice little trip for our family, enjoyed the colony and the ship. The museum was interesting, had some nice hands on exhibits and lots of information and history. Definitely worth the stop!

J. Aubrey Torres

Nice educational place for the kids

Cindy Starnes

Had the best time at the OBX Rod & Custom Cruise In. Park was beautiful by the water! Can't wait to go again next year!

Gary Gearhart

I liked the service, atmosphere, and food.

Rebecca Robertson

Nice park and good history students!

Jenna Reed

Fun times. Everyone was super nice and knowledgable. They dress in old timey clothes and speak as if they just docked the boat from England. There are other reenactments along the way that are interesting. It's great for kids but wasnt as child centered as I thought. There were a lot if couples and older adults touring the facilities. Also, fun note this place is only 4 miles away from the actual lost colony of Roanoke. Just google the lost colony show which is held at the exact sight.

Gary H

Great place to visit. Informative staff in period costumes. Well worth it!

Ben Albert

Great area to sit back and listen to some music. I like how they have the vendors set up around the path for you to get to and not a whole lot of vendors made it nice. We were at the bluegrass festival I really like the fact they had a lot of local food vendors, they did have a Chic Fila but I couldn't bring myself to not help out the local vendors. All in all great time, clean place, nice people. Thanks to all that help put that together!

tonya canup

Went on a cub scout trip and we got to camp out there, and the staff that was doing our tour was awesome

John Carver

So much history on display here. Several interactive areas and period accurate demonstrations of life on the island.

Aaron Green

Learn more about the Lost Colony. Smaller scale and price than Jamestown Settlement. I enjoyed the ship and the recreated settlement site. The people there were nice and helpful. Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is free and goes nicely with a visit to Roanoke Island Festival Fun Park. There is a $1 off coupon in the various coupon books. I ended up paying $38 for a family of 5.

Shannon Roulet

Super cool for adults and great place to take your offspring. There is an admission price but you get to walk around a little village dirt path AND there's a ship you can climb on. Plus there's a sailor on the ship that'll answer all your ship related questions and tell you interesting facts about that there ship.

Ronald Estrada

This place is really fun a lot of things to see and explore.

PreciousCargo 4

Great to visit with the kids! Both my girls won the scavenger hunt for their age level, which they thought was awesome. Also the gift shop isn't overly pricey which I liked as well. Most of it is outdoors though so check the weather!

Ashley Fabela

This was a fun experience to learn about the first colonies in North Carolina.

Dianna Salamendra

Very friendly and helpful staff. Interesting displays.

blgra866

The staff are a pleasure to interact with, stay in character and keep things fun.

Debra Alexander

Great place to learn & great for children!

Tim Golen

Yarrrrr! Pirates ahoy! There was lots to learn about at this little spot. They make it very entertaining for the kids and interesting enough for adults. We spent several hours here and really enjoyed the Queen Elizabeth II (boat), and the adventure museum. It also had the best Blackbeard pirate exhibit that we’ve seen so far.

Bruna Brylawski

A very interesting exhibit, and a lot of fun. I enjoyed the guides in period costume and language, and the demonstrations of life style and craft they gave. My second visit, I will go again when in the area.

Ron Breaux

Great visit. Great historical site. Great people answering questions and demonstrating customs.

r k

Educational and entertaining place to visit. Really enjoyed it.

HW Simmons

Kind of disappointing, the ship and the carpenter with the blacksmith was interesting because they were hands on, but the rest was not all that. The actual lost colony was hardly even mentioned. The placed seemed to be more geared for elementary school field trips, or for people that have no prior knowledge of Roanoke.

Phil Clark

Stuff for the whole family. Blacksmith and hands on woodworker in settlement camp. Indian camp has a few hands on activities, building a fish trap, carving a canoe from a huge log. Sometimes supplies are limited or non existent. Touring the queen Elizabeth ship is neat. My daughter and I love the movie that play every hour on the hour, 47 minutes. We've watched it every year for 16 yrs

Benjamin E. Skelton

Nice park with picnic tables and rest rooms

Wendell Hall

Historical interpretation by fine actors will bring 400 years of history to life.

Charles Fischer

Sorry about the three stars, I hit it by mistake. We enjoyed the visit we had there. My Wife's Niece was here from Germany and she wanted to see the park. We got there later in the evening and didn't have time to see it all but what we did get to visit was well worth the cost and time we spent there.

Wray Watson

So MUCH FUN!

Dara Grimsley

The guys on the boat were VERY knowledgeable! It was fun to visit the displays and learn about the Indians and the way they lived. The guys in the settlement part were so very helpful, the kids had all kinds of questions, and they didnt hesitate to provide an answer to each and every question. Definitely loved this place

Sabrina Hinton

Good place to visit and learn history of the area. There are some period dressed in time period they are very friendly and informative about time period work, living, etc. A good find.

Pennie Stafford

Crowder and Colton Dixon concert. Amazing place to visit anytime

Julia Keppel

I love how the museum associates were in time period costumes!

Rachel G

Can spend a whole day here! There is somuch to see.

Bob Kane

Awesome place for a concert! Saw Government Mule last night in the rain! They kicked butt!!! Great food trucks & local beer trucks ,a must see place.

Greg Hixon

Very neat place to spend a few hours. The early settlement has period performers that are a wealth of information about what it was like when early settlers arrived in the area. The Elizabeth II is an a bit of history!

Angel Merchan

Nice and interactive place for young kids.

Nicholas Barker

Great experience! The best part is the English colony part. Adults and children alike will love the craftsmen. The reproduction of the Elizabeth II was good too. I would recommend for anyone.

lsr1018

Beautiful, historic, clean. Pleanty of parking. Handicap parking and very accessible. Food and Pleanty of shopping. View of the sound and tours also available.

Deborah Dale

I always find something interesting to do at this park. It has become a "must do" activity for our family vacation time.

keyla Light

Was fun to learn little about history and the acting made it fun for the whole family

sandra hicks

A beautifully kept park full of history. History, is always fascinating. This park is a good destination if you enjoy the outdoors and the history of indigenous people of America meeting brave explorers from far away continents. A great place for young and older for hands on learning.

Guy Sumerlin

It's all lies. Read up on the facts to realize this isn't even where the list colony was at. It's all lies