Pirates Fest: A traditional success

By Christopher Tobutt

Thousands flocked to George Town Waterfront for the Pirates Landing, the official beginning of Pirates’ week. It is always the moment everyone looks forward to most of all. The big cardboard castle, heralding the wonderful Cardboard Boat Race in the middle of Hog Sty Bay was still present overlooking all the fun. And what a lot of fun it was.

H.E the Governor, Martyn Roper was on the balcony of the museum. But he seemed to have slipped back in time, and was wearing the regalia of a colonial governor from the seventeenth century. Each year, a little drama unfolds. We hear great booms of cannons, and they transport us back into Pirate Land. But each year the story gets a bit more complicated, and now the Spanish were involved, too. They captured the Governor first of all, and raised the Spanish flag at the end of the dock. But now, what’s this? The Pirates are coming! But it seems as if they are fighting the redcoats, so I am getting a little confused. I thought the redcoats were already prisoners of the Spanish….

Anyway, with lots of “Arrrghs” and “Ooohs,” and cries of “Shiver me timbers,” the Pirates made their way through the waterfront. Jack Sparrow was there, of course, and lots of tourists and families wanted to have their photos taken with him. But he wasn’t the only star. You should have seen the wonderful pirate costumes that people had put together for the occasion. It’s really popular and draws pirates from local clubs all over America. They come, year after year, like The Pirates love to get together in their home cities, raising money for charities, and there were Pirates from Dallas, Florida, and Seattle having lots of fun, and letting the local children who had also come with carefully made Pirate Costumes take photos with them, golden memories for mom and dad to keep forever.

Two pirates, Val Kegal and her husband, Dave come year after year. “We come from Atlanta, Georgia, because it’s a national festival of this island, a great time for family fun, and a time to gather and celebrate, and watch the children pretend in a fantasy world of joy and happiness. Its also among the safest islands in the Caribbean. I try to visit the island a couple of times a year and I meet many of my friends from the US who are pirates coming in from Tampa, and Seattle, and they come in to dress up in their professional costumes,” she said.

Lots of work had gone into the Float Parade, too, and each district had been hard at work for months, planning and making spectacular displays of their culture and heritage in their floats.

The George Town float had kids celebrating some of Cayman’s medical Heroes, including Dr. Roy and Nurse Maud Seymour. East End’s float honoured the Queen and the Royal family, and their visits to the Cayman Islands, with youth, Cayman’s very own royalty, waving to the crowds.