Events - Future Events View

Bring the holiday season to a close with the RSV!

Meet up with other members, hear what events are in store in 2023, and give us your input!

Meet Lady Fortescue and her band of hapless aristocrats in this inaugural book of M. C. Beaton‘s "Poor Relations" series.

The Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts (110 West Finney Avenue, Suffolk, VA) will host the exhibit, "Celebrate Lafayette: Soldier, Statesman, Champion of Human Rights" from Thursday, January 23 to Saturday, March 1, 2025. The exhibit highlights memorabilia from the Farewell Tour and other vintage items on loan from American Friends of Lafayette (AFL) member Bill Cole. The AFL‘s traveling panels and a detailed map of the Farewell Tour route through the 24 states that Lafayette visited will also be on display. The free opening night reception includes French appetizers, three Lafayette wines from the Williamsburg Winery, and "Heart of Lafayette" limited release beer from Post Secondary Brewing in Portsmouth. Come and listen to a pianist playing the music that Lafayette would have heard. AFL member Frank Womble will give an update on the bicentennial events in Suffolk. The presenting sponsor for the evening is TowneBank.

Have questions about the Valentine‘s Ball? Get them answered here!

Join us for an evening of music, dancing, food, and fun!

The Suffolk Visitor Center will welcome General Lafayette at the former site of the Nansemond
County Courthouse, where he arrived in 1825. Lafayette will travel down Main Street in a horse-
drawn carriage along the same route into town that he traveled 200 years ago. The Southside
Community Band will entertain with music that Lafayette knew and loved. The Mayor or his
representative will formally welcome Lafayette and read the proclamation of Lafayette Days in
Suffolk and Somerton. Lafayette will recall the adventures of his encampment at Sleepy Hole at
the beginning of the Virginia Campaign in March 1781. The Youth Virginia Regiment will
demonstrate what life was like for the militia during the American Revolution. The Suffolk
Masonic Lodge No. 30 and 7th Virginia Regiment veterans will also join us.This free, family-
friendly event includes activities for children too, both under the pavilion and next door at
Riddick’s Folly.

Enjoy a festive evening at the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront as we commemorate the return of General Lafayette to Suffolk. This event will echo the banquet at which Lafayette was entertained on February 25, 1825. Lafayette, portrayed by Colonial Williamsburg‘s Mark Schneider, will be the guest of honor. He will be formally welcomed during the opening reception, where the Mayor of Suffolk‘s proclamation of Lafayette Days will be read. The dinner begins with the same thirteen toasts given 200 years ago! Music of the Regiment will perform with the instruments and repertoire that Lafayette himself knew. American Friends of Lafayette Vice President Robert Kelly, Director of the Gloucester Museum of History, will deliver the
keynote address. Don‘t miss this unique opportunity to relive history, celebrate the enduring friendship between France and the United States, and meet Lafayette. Attendees are kindly requested to wear period dress or cocktail/business attire. The presenting sponsor for the evening is TowneBank. Tickets are $75 each, available by cash or check at the Suffolk Visitor Center or the website above.

General Lafayette will be welcomed to Historic Somerton with a free reception on the grounds of the Washington Smith Ordinary, the only building still standing in Suffolk where he dined in 1825. Lafayette and his entourage will be escorted to the site by a bagpiper. A city representative will formally welcome Lafayette and read the Mayor’s proclamation of Lafayette Days in Suffolk and Somerton. Lafayette will share stories about his return to the United States, his recent welcome in the town of Suffolk, and the significance of the southern portion of the Farewell Tour. Lafayette will be introduced to members of the Committee of Arrangements from Murfreesboro, North Carolina, just as he was in 1825. Local ladies will provide refreshments to
the attendees, who will have the opportunity to meet Lafayette. As Lafayette and his escorts depart for Murfreesboro, the bagpiper will play “Auld Lang Syne.” Attendees are cordially invited to continue to Murfreesboro to join in celebrating Lafayette’s arrival in North Carolina at the Murfreesboro Town Hall, 105 East Broad Street at 5:00 pm, followed immediately by a reception at Hertford Academy, 200 East Broad Street.

We‘re looking for volunteers to assist in teaching Regency dancing at a Bridgerton-themed event at Hanover Tavern.

The Jane Austen Festival is back! Shops, lectures, workshops, a ball, and more await at the Heritage Village Museum near Cincinnati in the summer of 2025. Registration is now open for admission.

The Jane Austen Festival is back! Shops, lectures, workshops, a ball, and more await at the Heritage Village Museum near Cincinnati in the summer of 2025. Registration is now open for admission.

The Jane Austen Festival is back! Shops, lectures, workshops, a ball, and more await at the Heritage Village Museum near Cincinnati in the summer of 2025. Registration is now open for admission.