Yorktown Day Parade & Patriotic Exercises – Saturday, October 19
Yorktown Day Parade & Patriotic Exercises – Saturday, October 19, 2024
The modern-day observance of Yorktown Day traces its roots to 1922, when the Daughters of the American Revolution began an annual wreath-laying ceremony, which set the tradition upon which the current Yorktown Day is based.
Full Schedule:
- 8:25 am – Commemorative Ceremony at the French Cemetery, Yorktown Battlefield. Sponsored by The American Friends of Lafayette and The Friends of Rochambeau
- 9:10 am – Commemorative Ceremony at the French Memorial, honoring the French and American Alliance, sponsored by the French Wars Veterans Association in Washington, DC
- 9:10 am – Wreath Laying Ceremony at the grave of Governor Thomas Nelson, Jr. at Grace Episcopal Church, Yorktown, sponsored by the Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution
- 10:30 am – Flyover down Historic Main Street by the French Air Force, Lafayette Squadron
- 10:30 am – Yorktown Day Parade, Main Street, sponsored by Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
- 11:15 am – Patriotic Exercises and Memorial Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Victory Monument, Yorktown, sponsored by the Yorktown Day Association and the National Park Service at Colonial National Historical Park
- 1 pm – Historic Nelson House, Swan Tavern and Poor Potter sites open for visiting until 4:00pm.
- 1 pm – The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps performance at The Victory Monument, Colonial National Historical Park
- 3 pm – The Williamsburg Youth Orchestra, outdoor performance at 405 Main St, Yorktown, presented by Yorktown & Co.
- 3:15 pm – Dr. Thomas Chávez lecture about Francisco de Saavedra (1746-1819) at York Hall