Join us on Saturday, September 20th for an unforgettable evening of inspiration, education, and community at Yorktown Battlefield as we gather for an exclusive sneak peek screening of acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns’s highly anticipated documentary, “The American Revolution," before it premieres on TV 🇺🇸

🚨 REGISTRATION IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- Click ticket link to sign up for free today!

Revolutionary Festival starts at 3pm
Screening starts at 7pm

Colonial National Historical Park, in partnership with WHRO Public Media, York County, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and the VA250 Commission, invites the public to this special screening.

The entire 12-hour, 6-part documentary, which includes scenes filmed throughout Colonial Virginia, premieres on PBS on November 16th and is co-directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. Schmidt, a Virginia native, will participate in the event!

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Before the screening, join us for an exciting afternoon filled with revolutionary fun and learning. The Revolutionary Festival promises a range of hands-on history activities and live music creating a fun and festive atmosphere for visitors of all ages.

The screening is free and open to the public; advanced registration will be required. Visitors will be encouraged to bring lawn chairs, water, and to prepare for the weather 🌦️

🧠 Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, celebrate, and connect with our nation’s history in the very place where it happened!

Registration is highly recommended! This event is rain or shine. For more information on this event, please call (757) 898-2410.

On the Docket:

3 - 7 p.m.
⭐ Artillery Demonstrations
⭐ Ranger Programs
⭐ Live Colonial Music
⭐ Living History Encampments
⭐ Join the Colonial Militia Drill Station
⭐ Revolutionary Spy Games
⭐ Colonial Kids Games
⭐ + more!

7 p.m.
⭐ Screening begins
Secure your spot, set out a chair early & join us before the show for pre-screening remarks from co-director David Schmidt!

ABOUT DAVID SCHMIDT:
David Schmidt is the producer and co-director, along with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, of The American Revolution, a six-part, 12-hour series premiering on PBS in the fall of 2025.

Schmidt began working with Florentine Films as a researcher and apprentice editor for The Roosevelts (2014), while also supervising the documentary’s seven-episode script. His research on The Vietnam War (2017) won him the Jane Mercer Footage Researcher of the Year award, and he also worked closely on that project with writer Geoffrey C. Ward and helped coordinate postproduction. With Burns, Schmidt also produced the two-part biography Benjamin Franklin (2022) for PBS.

A graduate of Dartmouth College with a degree in history, Schmidt grew up on the Virginia Peninsula within the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown—each site only minutes from his childhood home. He spent his summers working in the living history museum in Colonial Williamsburg and on the archaeological dig at Historic Jamestown. Those childhood experiences led him to pursue a career telling American history.