❤️ What's happening this weekend in the 757

Good morning, 757!

Somewhere in Hampton right now, a hydroplane engine is being tuned for the 100th Hampton Cup Regatta. On the Virginia Beach oceanfront, a professional surfer is waxing her board while three stages go up in the sand. At Chrysler Hall, a cast of 12 is about to tell one of the most hopeful stories in modern history.

You picked the right weekend to be in the 757.

Local decoder: HRBT = the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the tunnel math that decides whether a Peninsula pick is charming or a commitment. Buckroe = Hampton's beach lane, not an Oceanfront typo.

Forwardable line: "Labor Day in the 757: three free stages on the oceanfront with fireworks every night, Broadway at Chrysler Hall, hydroplanes turning 100 in Hampton, and Flo Rida at Busch Gardens. Pick a side of the water and go."

Let's get to it.

🎆 Labor Day Weekend at the Oceanfront is the big free one, three stages at 17th, 24th, and 31st Street Parks, Friday through Sunday. Doors at 6:30 p.m., shows at 7:30 p.m. Greensky Bluegrass and Bela Dona open things Friday. Saturday brings The Aquabats!, Emily Ann Roberts, and Deep Blue Something. Sunday closes with Carbon Leaf, Lilly Winwood, and a Pop 2000s bill featuring Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC, O-Town, Ryan Cabrera, and LFO. Fireworks every night: 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Bring a chair, a blanket, and a small cooler. Leave the alcohol and the tent at home.

🎭 Come From Away runs through September 20 at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, with shows this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The award-winning Broadway musical tells the true story of 38 planes diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001, and the small town of 9,000 that welcomed 7,000 strangers. It's one of the most hopeful two hours of theater you'll find this fall.

🏄 Super Girl Surf Festival takes over the Virginia Beach oceanfront through Sunday, bringing professional women's surfers to 24th Street Park for one of the largest women's surfing competitions in the world. Free to watch right from the beach, with qualifying rounds through Saturday and finals Sunday. The Super Girl 5K closes the weekend Sunday morning.

⛵ Hampton Cup Regatta, 100th Annual races all weekend on Mill Creek off the Hampton waterfront, marking a full century of hydroplane racing on one of the East Coast's oldest regatta courses. Free to watch from shore. The Cup runs Friday through Monday.

Norfolk's biggest pop-culture convention takes over the Seven Venues complex Friday afternoon, with cosplay, gaming panels, and meet-and-greets under one roof.

The ViBe Creative District's First Friday fills the street with local makers, art installations, and live music from Utopia Feni as the evening cools off.

Craft beer, competition BBQ, and live music inside Busch Gardens, included with park admission. It runs through Labor Day, and Friday is the quiet day.

The Tides close their last home series of 2026 with post-game fireworks over the Elizabeth River. It doesn't get more Norfolk than this.

Flo Rida closes out the Busch Gardens Summer Concert Series Saturday night. Buy a park ticket and the show comes with it.

The Virginia Symphony plays free under the open sky at Yorktown's Riverwalk Landing, with the York River behind them. Bring a chair and a blanket.

The Tribe opens at home against Delaware State for the Go Green Game, honoring legendary coach Lou Holtz. The crowd goes full green.

Ocean View Beach Park hosts live brass from BrassWind, then fireworks over the Chesapeake Bay at 9:30. Free, on the right side of the tunnel.

Local artists line the park at Buckroe Beach for an outdoor art market with water views and live music. Free, and easy on a Sunday.

A fall plant market inside Tradition Brewing. Pick something green for the porch, drink something cold, and call it a Sunday.

The oceanfront series closes with Carbon Leaf, Lilly Winwood, and a Pop 2000s bill, then fireworks over the Atlantic at 9:30 p.m.

⚾ The Norfolk Tides opened the home series against Jacksonville with a 9-3 win Monday, with Enrique Bradfield Jr. going 3-for-5 and Rece Hinds hitting his 15th homer of the season at Harbor Park.

🏠 Target announced an October 11 opening for its long-awaited Wards Corner location in Norfolk, filling the anchor spot at the renovated shopping center that's been in progress for two years.

🌊 Norfolk mental health coach Korbin Thompson was named WTKR's Everyday Hero after wading into waist-deep floodwater at the Colley Avenue underpass in Ghent and pulling an SUV driver to safety, in scrubs, on her lunch break.

🎉 Norfolk Botanical Garden's $50 million Garden of Tomorrow opens to members September 11 and the public September 14, with two glass-covered biomes, Chihuly sculptures, and a second-story catwalk through rare plants.

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See you out there,

Josh