Godspeed Sails to New York City Commemorates America's 400th Anniversary

NEW YORK, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Godspeed opened today at New York City's South Street Seaport for the fourth stop in the 17th-century replica ship's 80-day tour of six East Coast cities. America's 400th Anniversary's Godspeed Sail brings the story of the journey that changed the world and the nation's birthplace, Jamestown, VA, to hundreds of thousands of visitors who will have a glimpse into early 17th-century America and the legacies on which our nation was founded.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051111/DCF015LOGO )

Docked in New York City June 27-July 6, Godspeed is accompanied by its "Landing Party Festival," a unique combination of education, entertainment and interactive experiences that is free to the public. Live music, family entertainment, and historical and cultural displays bring to life the American legacies of representative government, free enterprise and cultural diversity that first took root at Jamestown.

The Godspeed Sail event officially opened at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 27. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe was joined by Colin Campbell, President and CEO, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Former NASA Astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, Jamestown 2007 Executive Director Jeanne Zeidler, and historian James Horn, author of A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America, in an opening ceremony highlighted by the presentation of an America's 400th Anniversary flag to the City of New York as the commemorative event's host city.

"The Godspeed's arrival in New York City brings 400 years of rich history to the shores of New York and complements the important role the City of New York played in the founding of our great nation," said Colin Campbell, President and CEO, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. "America's 400th Anniversary provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all Americans to reflect on our nation's shared heritage and learn about the legacies of representative government, free enterprise and a multi-cultural society that were established in Jamestown 400 years ago."

Visitors can board the Godspeed for dockside tours with historical guides in period costume, then take a "virtual" voyage in an on-shore motion simulator. Interactive exhibits will give visitors the sense of what life was like in early Jamestown and America, while a gallery-in-the-round called "American People, American Progress" takes them on a journey through 400 years of contributions made by the Native American, European and African-American cultures that converged at Jamestown in the early 1600s.

Entertainment will include "Anniversary Voices," a live contemporary musical and dance production themed around America's 400th Anniversary. An original children's show, "Ba-baaah and the Windigo" features a cast of whimsical characters in a Jamestown story from the point-of-view of a young Indian girl and some of the indigenous animals present when the ships first arrived.

Joining these commemorative productions on the Godspeed Stage during June 27-July 6 will be a wealth of diverse New York-area talent, including the Caribbean Cruisers Steel Drum; Coro e Scuola d'Italia; Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York; Magbana Dance & Drum; singer Elisa Peimer; Native American flutist Ron Warren; Red Visions Dance Troupe; Silver Cloud Dancers and Singers; Thunderbird Dancers; Voices of Henry Street Youth Chorus; and the William Ruiz Brown Bear Quartet, as well as members of Long Island's Adelphi University Dance Dept. and the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes & Drums from Williamsburg, VA.

Also taking the spotlight as headline entertainment will be recording artists Jen Chapin (June 27 6-7 p.m. and July 3 at 7-8 p.m.); Scott Miller & the Commonwealth (June 30 at 7-8 p.m.); Mutlu (July 1 at 7-8 p.m.); and Louise Setara (July 4 at 7-8 p.m.).

The Godspeed Sail will progress to the following ports this summer: the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse and Fan Pier in Boston from July 14 - July 19, and the Newport Yachting Center in Newport, RI, from July 25 - July 30.

The 2006 Godspeed Sail is one of 10 signature events and hundreds of other community projects commemorating America's 400th Anniversary. America's 400th Anniversary will feature 18 months of special events, symposia and educational opportunities. The centerpiece event will be America's 400th Anniversary weekend, hosted in America's Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown, VA, on May 11-13, 2007. Please visit http://www.americas400thanniversary.com/ to learn more about the Godspeed Sail and other America's 400th Anniversary events and schedules.

Jamestown 2007, a sub-agency of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, is coordinating efforts to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. Jamestown is also the site of the nation's first representative government, free enterprise and multi-cultural society. State, national, and international commemorative events to salute these legacies begin in May 2006 and continue into 2008. Major corporate sponsors of America's 400th Anniversary include Norfolk Southern Corporation , Verizon and Colonial Williamsburg. More information about the commemoration is available at http://www.americas400thanniversary.com/.