Harborfest 2011: Same harbor. Bigger fest.

NORFOLK

The spectacle of ships with bold sails and booths offering everything from seafood to funnel cakes is familiar. But each year, organizers of Harborfest along the downtown Norfolk waterfront look for ways to make it splashier. The 35th annual Norfolk Harborfest, today through Sunday, promises more dazzle and variety.

“This is the big-bang festival, the one we produce where we can bring in the big entertainment,” said Kelly Ogle, vice president of programs and creative services at Norfolk Festevents, the organization that produces Harborfest. “We’ve beefed up our ‘aha’ entertainers. You’re going to be entertained even by the unexpected.”

Ogle, who handles Harborfest’s “specialty acts,” and the Festevents staff researched other festivals for most of the winter, studying trends. In addition to music, Ogle said high-energy theatrical performers have become hot summer festival attractions. Cirque-tacular Entertainment, an offshoot of the acclaimed Cirque du Soleil, is one of the marquee specialty acts at Harborfest. The troupe performs acrobatics 30 feet in the air and gasp-inducing contortions, among other things.

Plastic Musik is another specialty attraction this year. Using an assortment of tubes, tubs and musical instruments, the percussion collective puts an odd, eclectic twist on a variety of songs, from Beethoven to Motown.

Musically, Harborfest casts a wide net. Lauren Kroniser, programming manager at Norfolk Festevents, secures performers for the main stages.

“It’s such a festival market. We don’t book someone who played a month ago in Virginia Beach or two months ago down in Hampton,” Kroniser said. “We try to contact those artists who would play exclusively for us in the summer to make it more of a bang.”

Chesapeake-based artists Jae Sinnett and Lewis McGehee, local festival mainstays, will perform. National acts include the folk-pop group Indigo Girls, rocker Brian Sewell and throwback soul act The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards.

Organizers have gone to extra lengths this year to make the festival experience as comfortable as possible, with more seating, bistro tables and designated shaded areas to escape the sun.

The festival’s main attraction, Harborfest Parade of Sail, will enter downtown Norfolk Harbor on Friday at noon and make its way toward Town Point Park. The fleet includes tall ships, character vessels, power cruisers, sailing craft, military vessels and antique wooden boats.

“It’s what the Harborfest is all about. Thousands come out to see these gorgeous boats,” said Rob Robins, the parade commander since 1999. A longtime volunteer with Norfolk Festevents, he oversees the logistical aspects of the parade.

“There’s a lot that goes into coordinating it, more than the people on land know,” said Robins, owner of a marine and power generator sales company in Chesapeake. “If anything happens to anyone on a ship, any emergency, we have plans in place that handle the situation without interrupting anything. The fleet prepares us for a better, bigger one the next year.”

Sunday Family Fun Day, introduced last year, continues. While every day of the festival offers family-friendly activities, Sunday concentrates the fun for kids. That morning, children’s music group Paisley Pickles will perform. Disney-themed inflatable bounce houses will dot the area, and a train for kids will snake its way around the park.

“Over the last eight or nine years, we focused on the family-friendly aspect more and more,” said Ogle, who has been involved with planning Harborfest for 13 years. “It makes sense, because this is a family-oriented area. But nobody’s left out of the fun. Around every corner, there will be something for everybody.”

Rashod Ollison, (757) 446-2732, rashod.ollison@pilotonline.com