The New Year Celebration in Manteo is back and it was marvelous. The music, the fireworks, lighting Dough Creek with the huge 2022 show from the Elizabeth II docked at Roanoke Island Festival Park…all of it is back after taking a year off because of COVID.
Of course we’re not quite out of the woods yet, but we’re learning a lot more about what we can do and what we can’t do and one thing we can do on the Outer Banks is greet the new year in with song, dance and joy.
The song was from local groups Trick Fly and Jonny Waters and Company, playing from 8:00 p.m. right up until midnight. The dancing…wee, that was who ever wanted to dance.
Something new this year, Cory Hemilright who produces the annual Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival, started Pickin’ at the Pioneer—live music on the Pioneer Movie Theater stage right in the heart of Manteo. Bluegrass band Breaking Glass made the from Mississippi to play some tunes. Good music to. Talented musicians and great vocals.
The New Year’s Eve Celebration on the Manteo waterfront is part street fair and part celebration of small town life. For those of us lucky enough to live here, the evening is filled with running into old friends. Businesses stay open later than usual because there’s always a good crowd on hand.
What seems to make the evening truly special, though, is the lighting of the light on the Elizabeth II welcoming the New Year followed by a spectacular fireworks display.
Parents bring their kids for the earlier countdown that happens at 8:00, but many of them stay and wait for the official start of the New Year with the whole family.
It’s a wonderful feeling and one that we treasure on the Outer Banks.
This sandbar by the sea truly is a special place. Discover for yourself why it is so wonderful with a vacation in a Brindley Beach Vacations home.