By Amy Woolvett
Pirates will be invading Shelburne this summer in what will hopefully be the first of many Pirate Rendezvous.
Somewhere between 20 and 40 pirate actors will be coming to the area for Capt Pike’s Pirate Rendezvous on July 26 to 29.
“We are parlaying with the baddest of the bad,” said one of the organizers Allan Reid.
“We are hoping to attract scurvy dogs, winsome wenches, eager kids and riff-raff of all ages to join Capt Pike and his jolly band of merciless cut throats for a weekend of pure fun, pirate battles, music, food, drink and merriment of every sort,” said co-organizer Timothy Gillespie.
The weekend of pirate activities has been in planning for three years but is something organizers hope will become a popular and yearly event.
Highlights of the weekend will be a Capt Pike Lost Treasure Adventure, a three-day hunt for buried treasure in and around Port Roseway and Mystery Island.
To help make the weekend more authentic, it has been planned for the same weekend that the Tall Ships will grace Shelburne’s ports.
“Our goal is to have a purely fun event where people who come to see the ships will want to stay and play,” said Reid.
“We have had such a great amount of support for the weekend…people will be coming from all over Nova Scotia,” he said.
Other activities include a Capt Kidd’s Pirate Camp for children with crafts, costume contests and where they can learn to speak like a pirate.
A battle on land and water is sure to be a hit with cannons, mortar, swivel cannons and blunder buss.
People will also get the opportunity to get free transportation from Shelburne harbourfront activities to Island Park fun via longboats.
There will be a Grand Buccaneer’s Ball where the pirate king and queen will be chosen, as well has an outdoor Privateers Grog garden with beer and live music all weekend long.
Everybody young and old is encouraged to find their inner pirate and join in on the weekend long festivities.
“It’s something that people in future years will be clearing their calendars for,” said Reid.
