NORFOLK, Va. — For the 71st year, the annual Norfolk NATO Festival is returning to the Mermaid City.
The festival is a celebration of the countries that make up NATO.
Festivities include the Parade of Nations, which starts this Saturday at 10 a.m. In the video above, you can see some of the floats are being worked on in preparation for the big parade.
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There will be 33 floats: one for each NATO member country and one for the festival itself.
Maintaining and preparing them for the festival is a year-round process, according to event organizers.
“It’s wood, it’s carpet, it’s foam, it’s metal. We act as if we are a stage set design. So it has to be light, durable, and appealing from a distance," said Norfolk NATO Festival director Alex Pincus.
“It’s the longest continuing festival in the Hampton Roads area. That’s a really huge deal. We’re unique in the fact that we are the only festival that celebrates the NATO alliance in the way that we do," said the festival's operations manager Malia Diaz.
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The parade will start at Harbor Park and runs for about two hours. The festival also includes an international village and, for the first time since 2019, a rugby match.
The celebration comes at a significant time: 2024 is the 75th anniversary of NATO.
The international organization is made up of 32 countries, including the U.S., that work together to support and defend each other.
NATO is split into two strategic headquarters: one in Europe and one in North America.
Norfolk has been home to NATO’s North American headquarters for over 20 years. The one here serves as a think-tank for the alliance.
“We do all the future work, looking out into the future. Warfare development, what’s needed, how does a war look like in 2040, 2050, 2060. What capabilities are you needing and how nations need to come together to fulfill it," said Gen. Chris Badia, NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
He said having a headquarters in the U.S. has made sense strategically since NATO was created in 1949.
"With the U.S. forces, with the U.S. naval forces, especially with the lines of communication between the U.S., America, and Europe," said Badia. "So there was a headquarter needed by that time taking care of the Atlantic area, taking care of all the coordination, reinforcement."
For more information on the Norfolk NATO Festival, click here.
