11/22/2015
New Day, New Times for Hampton Roads’ Most Unique Holiday Event:
Saturday, December 5, 2015; 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
City Center at Oyster Point
Newport News Parks, Recreation & Tourism will present the 12th Hollydazzle, Hampton Roads’ most unique holiday event, on Saturday, December 5, 2015 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in City Center at Oyster Point. Hollydazzle is a free family event with activities and entertainment leading up to the spectacular BayPort Credit Union “Fountains of Light Show” at 7:45 p.m. with fireworks and special effects by Pyrotecnico and the lighting of the 45 foot BayPort Credit Union Tree on the Fountain Plaza.
The event will begin at 3:00 p.m. with holiday entertainment at locations throughout City Center at Oyster Point. The Children’s Area will include “make and take” holiday crafts, dance performances by the City Arts Dance Company, The Academy of Dance, the Downing Gross Cultural Arts Center, and international street performer Wacky Chad (bike stunt and juggling). The CSX Dazzle Stage will feature musical performances by the Warwick Assembly of God Christmas Choir, Soundscapes, and Newport News Public Schools. Christopher Newport University A Capella groups Take Note, Expansion, The Newport Pearls, and Extreme Measures will perform on the Gazebo Stage. The U.S. Army TRADOC Colonial Brass Quintet, the Salvation Army Band, Santabones, and local favorite The Flaming Ginger (fireshow) will perform on the Fountain Plaza Stage. Strolling street entertainment will include stilt walkers, “living” statues, mimes, fire performers, hoop dancers, and Katie Balloons.
A new feature for this year’s event is the Hollydazzle Holiday Market, a one-day pop-up holiday shopping experience. The market will feature 25+ local vendors offering high-quality, handmade goods.
The BayPort Credit Union “Fountains of Light Show” (at 7:45 p.m.) will be shot from floating islands within the fountain and the lower perimeter edge of the fountain. This “one of a kind” show will combine fireworks, theatrical lighting, ground-based pyrotechnics, and special effects all choreographed to festive music. The show will transform City Center into a kaleidoscope of color reflecting on the fountains’ five-acre water surface. The finale of the BayPort Credit Union “Fountains of Light Show” is the illumination of the BayPort Credit Union Tree. The tree fades from color to color, shimmers, chases lights, and creates unique patterned effects. The tree’s lights are synchronized with recorded holiday music and the “sights and sounds” of the tree can be enjoyed on the Fountain Plaza through January 1, 2016.
Food vendors will sell dinner items, snacks, and holiday treats (kettle corn, popcorn, hot chocolate, German roasted nuts, funnel cakes, hamburgers, turkey legs, hot dogs, corn dogs, seafood, fried candy, cupcakes, and pizza) .
Admission to Hollydazzle is free. For more information call (757) 926-1400. For live updates during the event, follow the event on Facebook (NewportNewsFestivals) and Twitter . There is no rain date for the Hollydazzle. For your pet’s safety, and the safety of the crowds of people attending the event, please leave your pets at home. Only service animals are permitted on HRT shuttle buses. A designated viewing area for handicapped guests is available on the Fountain Plaza for the BayPort Credit Union “Fountains of Light Show.”
PARKING INFORMATION:
Free parking will be available at the City Center Merchants Walk Parking Garage, the Fountain Way Parking Garage, at a satellite lot at Canon Virginia, Inc. (free, continuous shuttle bus service provided to
and from the event area from 3:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., the last shuttle bus from the satellite parking lot leaves at 7:00 p.m. or when the lot is full). Attention: Private business parking lots in Oyster Point may enforce towing. Handicapped parking is available in marked spaces in each parking garage. Additionally, to access handicapped parking in the Mariner’s Row Parking Garage, guests must enter from Thimble Shoals Blvd.C westbound only C onto Sun Way. All HRT shuttle buses are handicapped accessible. For live updates about the status of the parking areas during the event, follow the event on Twitter and on Facebook (NewportNewsFestivals).
DIRECTIONS:
From I-64 Exit 256A – To Canon Virginia, Inc. Satellite Parking: Exit onto Oyster Point Rd., turn left onto Canon Blvd., turn left on Old Oyster Point Rd., turn right into Canon Virginia, Inc. (satellite parking). The event site shuttle drop-off/pick up for the Canon Virginia, Inc. Satellite Parking Lot is on the corner of Canon Blvd. and Town Center Dr.
From J. Clyde Morris Blvd. into the City Center Parking Garages: From J. Clyde Morris Blvd., turn onto Thimble Shoals Blvd, then right onto Fountain Way to access the Fountain Way Parking Garage;. or turn right onto Town Center Dr. and left on Merchant’s Walk to access the Merchant’s Walk Parking Garage.
