Last updated: July 23, 2019
A celebration of all that is special about the town of Manteo and Roanoke Island, North Carolina, is Dare Day.
The 43rd annual Dare Day festival takes place June 2nd with music, food and the famous “Anything that Floats but a Boat” race. As the gateway to the famed Outer Banks, Manteo makes the most of its special location on Roanoke Island.
Uniquely situated in North Carolina’s coastal geography—surrounded by Roanoke Sound to the east, Croatan Sound to the west, Albemarle Sound to the north, and Pamlico Sound to the south—Roanoke Island is a boaters paradise.
Dare Day also celebrates the island’s rich history as the landing site of the first English settlers in North America. The day is named in honor of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas. The young Miss Dare would become part of Roanoke Island’s famed “Lost Colony.”
While Roanoke Island has a special place in the maritime past of our country, it also has remained relevant as the current home to some of the most highly respected boat builders on the East Coast.
dareday.org
By Bob Arrington, Southern Boating June 2018
