Richmond’s Home Front Festival By-the-Bay Promises Fun in a Big Way

The City of Richmond will celebrate its rich history on September 29th & 30th with the first annual Home Front Festival By-the-Bay. The festival will be held at three separate locations: Marina Bay Park, the Ford Building and Shipyard #3.

A traditional USO dance will be held on Saturday night, September 29th.

Published: September, 2007 

Marina Bay Park will be the site of the traditional two-day festival with music, entertainment, food, arts and crafts vendors and an Arts Pavilion. Other special activities planned include a Home Front workers reunion, 5K/10K Fun Run/Walk sponsored by the YMCA, both on Sunday; demonstrations and activities by the Richmond Sea Scouts on both days, and, on Saturday, the annual PAL Battle of the Bikes Motorcycle Poker Run.

The weekend kick-off is a Rosie Trust Gala fund raiser in the newly opened Craneway section of the Ford Building on Friday, September 28^th. As a special attraction for the weekend, the Henry J. Kaiser Think Big exhibit will be on display in the Craneway.

In honor of the WWII Home Front theme, a traditional USO dance will be held at the Craneway on Saturday night. The event will recreate the atmosphere of a 1940s style USO dance and show complete with big band and swing music provided by the Junius Courtney Orchestra and Muir Station Jazz Band.

Admission to the dance is free to anyone in military uniform or with a past or present military ID. Cost for civilians is $20 per person and $15 for seniors in advance, or $25 and $20 at the door, if space is available.

Two separate vehicle shows will be featured over the weekend. On Saturday, vintage military vehicles will be on display at Shipyard #3. On Sunday, the Kiwanis Vintage Car Show will display American automobiles at least 35 years old with an emphasis on vehicles of the 1930s through 1950s at Marina Bay Park.

One of the most important and exciting of the special events planned is the Launch of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Shipyard #3, with all its attendant activities – entertainment, food, visiting dignitaries and the actual launch of a ship created for the occasion. The USS Red Oak Victory Ship, berthed at Shipyard #3, will hold a Pancake Breakfast before the launch and will be open for tours both days.

On Sunday, the USS Potomac, which served as the floating white house during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency, will be docked in Marina Bay. Docents will be available for tours and to describe what life was like aboard the historic vessel. The trawler Delphinus and the tall ship Alma will sail on historic tours around the Inner Harbor. (There will be a charge of $10 on each ship.)

The Home Front Festival By-the-Bay not only marks the official unveiling of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park and the 10,000 square foot Craneway of the historic Ford Building, but also 0.3 miles of new Bay Trail along the Harbour Way frontage of the Ford Building. At completion, the new addition to the Bay Trail extending to Hall Avenue will link the shoreline trail to Lucretia Edwards Park and run in front of the Craneway. The newly opened Craneway at the waterfront will eventually house the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park Visitors Center, as well as provide public space that will house future restaurant, entertainment and retail establishments.

For details on all these events or more information regarding the Home Front Festival By-the-Bay, visit www.homefrontfestival.com or call 510-234-3512.

The “floating white house,” USS Potomac, will be available for tours at Marina Bay on Sunday, September 30th.