'Something really special': Colonial Williamsburg to host reenactor weekend for the first time in a decade

Colonial Williamsburg interpreter at the military encampment. (Photo by Brendan Sostak, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

WILLIAMSBURG – Up to 100 reenactors will converge on Colonial Williamsburg this weekend, Nov. 1 – 2, for the return of an event that has not taken place since 2015.

Williamsburg Dy’d of a Purple Colour will interpret the 2nd Virginia Regiment and the impacts it had on the Williamsburg community. The Regiment was authorized by the Third Virginia Convention in August 1775 and was camped in Williamsburg that fall.

The event is named after the distinctive purple colored hunting shirts the Regiment notoriously wore.

Volunteer reenactors are traveling from as far away as Massachusetts and New Jersey, according to Ellen Peltz, public relations manager for Colonial Williamsburg.

The two-day program is unique among reenactments in that it “will engage the entire historic city, involving the historic trades in the work of equipping the soldiers,” Peltz said.

The programming lineup for Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 includes:

Exercise and Evolutions at the Courthouse Green at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Under Arms: Join the 2nd Virginia Regiment at the Military Encampment at 11 a.m.
The Weight of Liberty at the Wheelwrights and Courthouse Green at 12 p.m.
The Discipline of Woods Fighting at the Courthouse Green at 2 p.m.
Beat the Retreat at the Military Encampment at 4:30 p.m.

Historic trades from throughout Colonial Williamsburg are contributing to the weekend’s army preparations.

Wheelwrights are repairing and making artillery carriages, the foundry is casting musket balls and the weavers and dyers are dying the hunting shirts. Crops for the army will be harvested by farmers, while the bookbinders are reproducing drill manuals and orderly books.

Printers, milliners and cooks will also be involved in the weekend-long event.

Military interpreters portray soldiers with the 2nd Virginia regiment preparing to fire their muskets. (Photo by David M. Doody, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

“The weekend is meant to be very immersive,” said Sam McGinty, Colonial Williamsburg’s Programs Supervisor. “The city will feel alive.”

The recreated 2nd Virginia Regiment will stand on the same ground upon which the original regiment stood 250 years ago, participating in the very drills that are detailed in historical records.

Colonial Williamsburg has hosted reenactor weekends dating back to the mid-1990s but has not done in a decade.

The Foundation plans to host two additional reenactor weekends in 2026 as part of a year-long effort to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“We’ve set a high standard for authenticity with our reenactors and will be trying to thoughtfully and accurately represent Williamsburg in 1775,” McGinty said. “The programs on the schedule, with the scale the reenactors will provide, should be something really special.”