Pirates Week slashed to 5-day event in GT
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ longest running and most well-known annual festival is being dramatically reduced for its 40th year anniversary in November. There will be no district heritage days during Pirates Week this year, which has been cut to a five-day event that will be concentrated in the capital. Officials told CNS that there will still be a float parade, landing, fireworks and other familiar events but the districts will be coming to George Town for one major heritage day at the end of the much shorter festival, where the district days around the islands have been keel hauled and pushed off the plank.
The Grand Cayman festival has for many years spanned an eleven or twelve day period, with preliminary events before the Friday night kick-off and the official landing of pirates during the first weekend, followed by heritage days across all six districts, culminating in the final weekend’s rum-fuelled pageantry and the pirate sentencing. But according to a press release, this will be crammed into a much smaller celebration as the festival, which started in 1977, marks is ruby anniversary.
In recent years, Pirates Week has come in for public criticism, as major private sector sponsors are digging up less and less gold coins, and some of the festivities have begun to look increasingly tired, attracting less participants and spectators. Arguments persist too about the image of a pirate celebration and some say attempts to water down the swashbuckling piracy have undermined its success as a tourist attraction.
Whatever the reasons, officials have not made clear why they have made such a dramatic cut to the length of the festivities or if this is a formula that will continue into the future. But organisers said that they were “not content to stand still and regurgitate the same winning formula”.
The office has confirmed that before the Grand Cayman event there will still be a three-day festival on Cayman Brac on 3-5 November, and following the Grand Cayman festival there will be a three-day event on Little Cayman the weekend of 17-20 November.
So what is now going to be a long weekend festival on Grand Cayman will begin on 9 November and end on 13 November, with what was described as a “mammoth heritage day”, where visitors will be able to “wander from West Bay to East End in just a few steps in the centre of George Town”.
The Pirates Week Office said work was underway on increased entertainment, competitions, pageantry and fun for all ages. Most of the familiar events will still take place but will be condensed into the five days. Always short of treasure, organisers said they were also launching a sponsorship initiative called ‘40 for 40’ to find forty private and public sector businesses that will each contribute CI$1,000 sponsorship to provide the backbone for the event.
Category: Local News
Well, no one say about the terrible accident one lady has.The light post from the paraide falt on the top of her head! that was terrible accident. Plus no one remember that!
The comment that appeared in regards to this article purporting to be written by Lance Jefferson was not written by him and has been removed. Cayman News Service apologises for any inconvenience or embarrassment this may have caused Mr Jefferson.
I often hear from my friends on island that “we do not attend Pirates Week events…no way”. Interesting,,,guess its kinda like us not attending “Bike Week” here in Daytona.
I am from Orlando FL and if it was not for my Cayman friends we would never know this event takes place on your island. Who is promoting this…let us know and we will come!
Heritage Days is key to our culture don’t forget the younger generation that take field trips to these events. lets think positive cut out the STREET DANCE promote our CULTURE forget about the pirates taking away the Governor that’s silly lets get educated on our culture and Cayman history.
Disclaimer: imma die hard PW supporter. They can take that Fake Batabano foolishness back to wherever it came from. We’re not a predominately Catholic society and we sure as hell don’t celebrate our emancipation from slavery so why do we celebrate carnival? (Note: research the origins of carnival)
First, while I think the article is very negative and somewhat biased) if you read into it with a subjective mind you will see it states that The District days are not being “slashed”, they are being combined in one day (a bank holiday) which is encouraging more unity and a grand finale event combining all districts to showcase their culinary, crafting and competitive talents.
Secondly, this is not the first time that a festival had to be tweaked to roll with the times. Remember when Cayfest was a weeklong event? Well CNCF had their budget “slashed” a few times since those days and now Cayfest is an art exhibition, private invitation only awards ceremony and one evening RedSky at Night event. That event is a well attended blend of all kinds of artists, musicians cooks and game vendors.
Third, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman’s events are not being cancelled ( read the article again). Cayman Brac has always had a heritage day but Little Cayman has never had a heritage day due to the fact that there is a small population (visit there sometime, you may then understand). They however continue to put on the parade, party and fireworks.
Fourth, If you watched last year’s press briefing on CIGTV (still on you tube) you will note the Minister of Tourism said that His minsitry and Dept of Tourism gives around $50k to put on the event. So NO the government is NOT the main purse that funds Pirates Week at least not now anyway. They’d rather put $500k in a neighboring country than in their own, so they don’t care-even though they want you to believe they do. You ever see the Tourism minister in a Pirates Week parade?
If you also followed the event over the past five or six years, you will note that even when Bernie Bush was heading it up, he had been stating that funding from the tourism sector and restaurants downtown (which the event truly benefits) has been diminishing. The new(ish) PW director, Mrs. McField has said publicly that the event costs around $250k to put on. So do the math, $200k has to come from the private sector yet all of the events are FREE so where does that extra money come from? Sponsors! I think they are smart to honor the sponsors money by condensing it. The people won’t have to worry about so many road closures during the week and when more people show up (unlike the dwindling heritage day events, which by the way is managed by the heritage committees) it’s more likely to be successful with the social element driving it. As one poster stated the cost for the food has skyrocketed but who is to blame for that? The PW office or the vendors? I was a vendor once so I can say that what I experienced was cut throat, never doing it again!
As for music, yes I agree more local bands should be showcased but some of those rock bands you refer to ARE Caymanian bands. And those modern young people are young Caymanians(the new generation) rapping and hip hopping to their original music. So what I hear is “don’t encourage young people to be creative” but row and blame young people when they are deadbeats? Face it, PW isn’t what it used to be because Caymanians stopped caring. I agree with the poster that said we stopped dressing up. WE stopped dressing up, WE stopped putting in creative floats! WE stopped writing new calyspsos, we stopped offering our time to help it along. WE stand in the side of the road and watch the tourists come off the Pirates boat as if THEY ARE the festival. Lookya, if unna ga complain bout how it nah how it used to be, then DO sumthin nah?! Get off yuh backsides and help. Be a part of the solution. Again, Any body see the Tousirm minister on the floats? Or the premier? Or any other big politician? They don’t care! They can’t be associated with “pirates” cuz they ga secure they old/Christian wotes at the poll. What about DOT? Where are they in promoting it? It costs money to promote it and last I check they only have three or four people working in PW office. So either WE fix it (and I volunteer almost every year) or just shut it down cuz I can’t take all the complaining. *Drops mic*
How does 5-days equal a week?
It’s now called ‘Pirates Work Week’
I’m from ‘murica and I can tell you that if Pirates Week is not in fact a week I’ll be suing for false advertising.
Don’t ask us about Seven Mile Beach then…
Or the Blow Hole
one of the other reasons that we are getting less tourists is that a couple of years ago they changed the dates from the last week in October,(due to weather) which general coincided with Half term breaks in the UK/ Europe, might want to rethink that.
This is great news.
Have you been to the “heritage days” all they have become is just food stalls and half the time its the same people cooking that aren’t even from that district.
Concentrating it will make a much better festival out of Pirates week.
What we need are more floats and more participation. But too many people only want to jump in the half naked batabano carnival type of events now.
half naked batabano you say? Yes, i will definitely have my eye bleach ready.
How many years did it take the new management to kill it?? It took a little longer than I expected but I knew it would be ruined. This is a crying shame and a result of putting incapable people to manage it.
Why do ‘anonymous’ people answer other ‘anonymous’ people? Especially mean and unecessary comments that they can’t put their names to? Then they have back and forth discussions….really?
Oh my goodness, it’s so pathetic and it just goes on and on.
So says “anonymous”
So tell us your name
This is a really bad bad bad idea….We need more tourist not less.
I am wondering where CITA is on this.
I thought we should move to be more creative with it not downsize it.
I think you’d have more tourists from the UK to your beautiful island if your hotels stopped being so greedy and dropped their prices! This is why they frequent Jamaica, Barbados, The Dominican Republic and even Cuba instead. The vacation packages are way cheaper. It’s not as if the island is cheap when you get there. C’mon Cayman play fair!
Actually Brits are cheap. They want the all inclusive.
Sorry, Brits are not “cheap” we have to pay high taxes in the U.K. Unlike the Cayman Islands. Also we don’t like to get ripped off either!
I suggest that in order to keep Pirates Week alive, residents find a way to get back into the spirit. When you go to a parade and other functions and hardly anyone is dressed up in costume anymore it shows that there is no longer any pride involved for our country to host this festival.
Other countries/communities have festivals where the residents get fully behind it. Store fronts and office buildings are decorated, employees wear gear or festival T-Shirts throughout the festival period. Our decoration is a little string of colored lights along the water front.
In Cayman it seems everyone is just concerned with where the bar and the food stalls are located (and both of those sections also lack a significant amount of organization and appeal).
We tired a de same ole crappy pirate theme , no innovation, same ole format, so there can it and give someone else the reins to make it a world class affair.
Why don’t we rebadge it to Christian Heritage Week.
That will bring the tourists in.
We could all tie crosses to our backs and chip down the road from Public Beach to George Town! I’m in!
I’m in if we get to crucify someone at the end.
I think that what the committee needs to be addressing is how the festival can be improved and more appropriately benefiting the Islands overall and drawing more visitors / people to the festival , not just thinking about the sponsors, I have always known that Government is the biggest sponsor , have that changed ? If not , then the above should be done.
From what I am reading in the article is why these changes of 3 days for the Brac and 3 days for little Cayman and 5 days for the George town, is all because the sponsors are not digging up enough gold coins. To me it make me think that the Committee is only working and cares about the SPONSORS and is trying to make it only benifical for the SPONSORS .
If Government is still the biggest supporter of the festival, then the Committee needs to be making it about the Islands and not about the sponsors and friends.
Best news this year.
No man lets have it in george town and hust trash the place then go swimming in the harbor
Just please remember that Thousands of people visit Grand Cayman for this event each year add a twist and keep the Heritage Days rolling its quite awesome to flow from district to district each day with your family, kids, and visitors. the kids always were trilled to head from east to west and all around the island in one week and i’m sure the public would miss it. I just don’t get it we live and work here in Cayman as a Caymanian and each day you see its getting harder as in just take what we feed you. couldn’t the public have a debate/ survey on this topic?
OK, let’s get past the spin. The real issue is threefold. Poor management, marketing and fundraising has led to this. If you’ve had the same vendors for all of these years, then your budget has to be fairly predictable. So obviously a major sponsor or some key funding fell apart this year. Also, you don’t make announcements/PR about it to news outlets when you’re in the midst of retooling the event. The website isn’t even ready. Poor organization. Plus, this leads to the marketing. If they’re not reaching enough people, they’re not studying their marketing data and targeting appropriately. That, or they’re not offering the right mix of event content/incentives/offers that are appealing to the audience but have failed to address it. Some people have already hinted at this in other posts – poor marketing, poor music offerings not in step with theme, and bad pricing models.
Why the doom & gloom CNS??? I LOVE Pirates Week, but even the most ardent swashbucklers have to admit to suffering pirate fatigue by the time you get to the end of the festival?? A shorter festival, focusing on the quality events that we all know and love and a one concentrated District Day, has to be a good thing, right? I have to admit, the heritage days, while a great showcase for each district, are hard to get to because I work during the week, so to bring all the district days together on a Bank Holiday is simply genius! I just don’t know why nobody thought of it before now? It’s also better value for visitors. How many of them actually stay for the full 10 nights anyway? This event has withstood 40 years, let’s keep it fresh, accessible and fun for all.
Pirates Week has been going down hill for the past few years. There isn’t enough emphasis on tourism and encouraging tourists to come and stay during the main festivities. It become noticeable that the theme of Pirates Week, e.g. Pirates and Wenches, has been diminished and far too much heavy music and unrelated entertainment has taken its place.
GT and many of the heritage night venues arent places that tourists and resident families want to be after dark due to the atmosphere that now prevails, it isn’t user friendly anymore and it’s our loss.
Pirate themed festivals are hugely popular and Cayman is fast losing a very lucrative addition to its tourism product through petty politics, poor planning and a deep misunderstanding of what tourists and residents want from such a festival.
Get rid of the heavy music and gangsta rappers, bring back the Caribbean music we all love to hear, not just the loud rants the wannabes and kids follow. Let’s return to families dancing in the streets until late and not surrender them to the gangs of doped up and drunk youths that roam around after dark.
Heritage is important, but separate the two and enjoy both.
Completely agree. I was shocked last year to see a teenager with a machete threating a group of other teenagers across the road from Guy Harveys and then disappear into the crowd. Despite 5 or 6 people calling 911 about this lunatic, not one cop showed up! Need a heavier police presence during the street dances.
Great way to fix the problem, just shut it down….smh small minded thinking, they could’ve tried something new to make it more appealing…
First pirates week is not part of our heritage. Pirates were criminals.
Second this is Best decision I have seen coming from the pirates week committee.
Next year let’s cut it down to one day.
Nice try. You CANNOT tell pirates what to do. We are Pirates. We tell you what to do!
The best thing to do after last pirates week showed the pour outcome from both – tourist and locals. Also tourists never came for the full 10-15 days.
Maybe this time the ‘official pirates magazine’ will be on island BEFORE the tourists arrive. 😉 Especially for those sponsors involved and giving the ‘back bone’ and paying for the main attractions. (Firework)
Change is good and keep it fresh with a different twist
Good luck for all
Every year we seem to change our traditions. The Heritage days in each distruct encourage community involvement. What congestion George Town
Will we see tourist and vacationers in our districts?
Well if we get in that bunch of “independents” we will have Pirates for 4 years.
Worry bout one week. Will be all year round every day.
Put that in yo pipe and smoke DAT.
snatches credit card, gimme DAT .swipe swipe.
This is so sad, how can someone ruined the little heritage we have to look out for every year for it to just be done with just like that.
We need better management in the pirates week office someone that knows alot of our heritage.
So sad
To anonymous 1:45 – if you don’t feel welcomed here, why have you stayed for 9 years?
Because they value CI money more than life itself and will follow the cash trail..carnivorous caucasoids.
Read my answer below . I can and have and will earn money wherever I go . I came here as I believed it may be a nice place to live for a while , and for a while it was . Now thanks to attitudes like yours I have changed my mind . So I’m off…on my terms , not rolled over ,not being forced to leave . Now let me guess your next response … ‘ good riddance ‘… ‘ no loss ‘ etc etc… Well actually yes there is a loss . A loss of the thousands of dollars I spend each month in local business, the tens of thousands I spend each year in rent , the hundreds of thousands my company spends on permits . All adds up to around a million dollars over the best part of a decade pumped into your economy. I wont put a monetary value on the charity work I have done . Do I expect thanks for the contribution i have made to Cayman in that time ? Not really . Do I feel like I’m owed anything ? Not really . Would it be nice when I’m with my three year old whom I am trying to teach the importance of good manners to have a smile , a please or a thank you from the checkout girl in fosters countryside ? That would be a start .
@9:00 am – As a Caymanian, I would like to apologize to all of our ex-pat residents for the intolerant and hateful attitude that some Caymanians have displayed towards you.
Each and every one of you has contributed to these Islands in some way and have/want to/or wanted to make these Islands a home for you and your family. I would like to let you know that a lot of Caymanians welcome ex-pat workers and residents to our Islands and recognize the contributions that you have made to the success of these Islands.
Cayman would not have achieved the successes that it has in the financial center or the tourism industry without the hard work, commitment and contributions from BOTH Caymanians and our ex-pat workers/residents.
So I would like to say to you Sir/Madame @9:00 am, and to all other ex-pats, thank you for your contributions to the Islands, for helping to make Cayman a better place, for raising your families here, for supporting Caymanian owned businesses, for inviting your friends and family to come visit Cayman, and thank you for loving these Islands and wanting to make them your home.
I am very sorry that you have chosen to leave because of intolerance on our part, and I hope that where ever you chose to make your new home that you and your family are welcomed and happy.
To my Caymanians, ex-pats are not our enemies. The “them” vs “us’ mindset needs to stop. Now.
Thank you . Despite how it may have come across I have met some amazing locals in my time here and I look forward to one day bringing my children back to see where they were born and lived their early years. It is easy reading the comments on here , or listening to certain call in shows or certain politicians to forget that these tend to be the vocal few and despite what they think they do not speak for all caymanians . You have just reminded me of that and I apologize to you for falling into the same mindset at times as those that I speak of .
@11:39am – Please, no apology necessary at all, I wish you and your family all the best in the future and am happy that in spite of everything that you will one day bring your children back to these beautiful Islands.
Don’t know who you are but I like you!!!. My Caymanian roots go back to the first settlers. I can’t believe what Cayman has come to with the nasty attitudes some have towards others.
Read the post again , I dont feel welcomed in certain areas or certain events . I don’t feel welcome in parts of west bay or bodden town , I would not feel welcome walking with my family into super c’s or the evaglo . Why have I stayed here for 9 years ? Because I am paid good money to do a Job that there are no qualified Caymanian to do or the circumstances to train a caymanian ( would require a combination of foreign based tech schooling and on site experience for 5 years at a relatively low wage while training … We tried , no takers ) . In my nine years my employers have paid over 100,000 in work permits alone , I have spent over 200,000 in rent ( to a caymanian owner ) , my kids go to a preschool owned by a caymanian, i shop local , didn’t import my car , have given time and money to charities and have helped local family’s down on their luck with clothes and toys from my children . None of this was done with the intention of earning points for PR as i never intended on making Cayman my permenant home . So maybe the question shouldn’t be why did you stay nine years , maybe it should be why are you leaving ? Two main reasons ..after 9 years i still don’t feel welcome to make this my permanent home and despite being born here i don’t believe my children will ever be viewed as Caymanian . Why should i subject them to a life of being told ‘ a dog can be born in a stable don’t make him a horse ‘ which someone commented recently about a third generation Caymanian . Other reason .. I’m tired , tired of all the bullshit and hypocrisy, tired of the’ if you don’t like it go back where you came ‘from attitude , the’ you’re a guest’ attitude ( guests dont usually spend nine years and pay you hundreds of thousands of dollars ) in short I’m tired of people like you. And I’m not the only one .
Well said! Coming from a person who has been here since 1986.
Me too, since 1990. Makes me sad but I will NEVER be accepted.
I quit going to the district heritage days because there’s no way I can afford what they charge for food, which is one of big reasons people go. Each day you’ll spend about $25-30 for a plate of food. I’ve also noticed the food’s quality and quantity has gone down.
In regards to showing off a districts’ history, perhaps they should have an event in a different district each year. By moving it to a different district each year I feel it would be a bit more balanced/fair.
I also feel they need to improve the float parade. It’s pretty much the same skit every year and it needs to be freshened up. There should be something new/unexpected each year that makes the audience go WOW!
I would be quite interested to see the line up of activities for these 5 days
Oh well, there goes another worthwhile attraction. The length of the festival supported many staying around for at least a week. The shortened schedule means it is not as worthwhile to bear the cost of travel for a shortened event. I go to MOST if not ALL of the district days and enjoy a different dinner each day where I don’t have to cook for that week. So long to that for me! I’m sure the friends and former neighbors who came to visit at least every other year for a week (or more) will not be interested in a shortened vacation anymore.
SAD!
“P.W. Fest was good because it was long. Now it’s been made shorter! No more going to MOST if not ALL district days – no cooking for a week and no more visitors! SAD!”
Should have expanded it to three full weeks to incorporate all the new districts instead. 19 Heritage Days would be awesome!
LMFAO!!! We got plenty of pirates to choose from on May 24th
How many full time staff does it take to run a 5 day festival…I hope has helped the government save some money. Surely, this is not a full time thing for the mysterious Tourism Attraction thingy.
haleluyah!?
EE food just got closer to GT workers =D
EE food is always the winner. Maybe start a district cooking competition?
Now if we can find whoever approved closing West Bay Road and all of the downtown streets for two weekends in a row instead of insisting that two virtually identical groups of near naked people listening to the same music, drinking the same massive amount of rum, and simulating sex acts in front of our children can march on the same day…. That one deserves to be keelhauled.
If you do not approve of our street carnivals and do not want to expose your pure upper class unexposed children to our corrupted, pagan and uncivilized behavior then stay home and keep your kids home. Its a cultural thing which some of you do not and will never understand.
Are you referring to the high number of teenage pregnancies, adultery, and general degradation of women as sex objects as the cultural part we don’t understand? Please enlighten us.
Public filth is not something to be celebrated and no, it is not a cultural thing.
Whoever’s wife I choose to dry-hump on a public street is none pf your business.
First of all Batabano is not a part of our CULTURE nor is it a part of our HERITAGE. It is ONLY a TRADITION. Be careful not to confuse those 3 words.
thank you for saying that this is not part of our culture. I agree.
I have always been baffled by Caymanians (of which I am one) allowing foreigners to come here and change everything to their liking.
If we are to have festivals can they not be clean and purposeful instead of an excuse for drunkeness and vulgarity
Such a shame!
OK, so they’re canceling Pirate Week/Heritage Days events on the Sister Islands. But they’ll have festivals on the Sister Islands before and after the events on Cayman. So what are the festivals on the Sister Islands for?
The idle amusement of the masses.
And what do you do for amusement? Lol …read CNS?
Masses? Please don’t body shame the couple dozen that show up to these events! Thx!
I am looking forward to this new format. It sounds more appealing.
But how will all the civil servants get their extra time off for their district’s heritage day? Is government just going to have an extra half-day shutdown for the centralized event?
2:18. You mean the one hour? Ask yourself this. Where would you be without our beloved Civil Servants. Probably sitting at home washing your pants.
all work and no play island????
Punniest story I’ve read in quite some time.
They didn’t slash Pirates week , Pirate week is all year long today . But I understand the reasons why there would be a shorter Pirates week and no more district day . The Pirate sector sponsors are not digging up enough gold coins . But how much of GOVERNMENT and Taxpayers money is going into Pirates week ? If the pirate sector is footing all the expenses then they might have a point in having it in the Capital .
I think that this is a shame that the Pirates committee would think of cutting out all the district days , that should not be done because having the district day is suppose to benifit the district and show their culture and heritage .
People don’t let the Pirates week Committee do that if Government and Taxpayers money is going into Pirates week .
Good news. Combining the highlights together in a shorter schedule will reinvigorate Pirates Week and minimise disruption to locals. One Heritage Day is plenty – we don’t have that much culture to share. Quality not quantity will be an improvement over what we’ve had.
I am a born Caymanian and attended and enjoyed the Pirate’s Week festival.
Here is my recommendations:
#1 – The Managers of this festival should exclude all these Districts events from Pirates Week. Have them on Batabano or some other event. But leave the Capital GEPRGE TOWN alone, the famous EAST END BURN FIRE and the CAYMAN BRAC EVENT! Thats it! Dont make it long and drawn out!
I notice sinced we spanned Pirates Week to include all the districts (pleasing traditionslist folk), we ended up watering down the event so to speak. Many in the districts end up withholding their floats and attractions from the Capital. This is my observation … I stand to be corrected 🙂
#2 – Get rid of MORDERN MUSIC … please, please, please! It does not represent Caribbean. And yes I love R&B and American songs, but they don’t fit the occasion. We use to have real live CALYSO AND SOCA BANDS. Artists like Sparrow who knew what they were doing! These old time Caribbean hits romanticised the entire event, and even the old and young enjoyed it.
#3 – Explore changing the name of the event to PIRATES & HERITAGE WEEK. I think this will solve the controversy over just the name PIRATES or HERITAGE (to please Christian traditionalist folk). This join the two names.
🙂
Agreed re the music! The god awful rock band kills the whole vibe!
For heritage and cultural purposes there should be no reggae, soca or calypso or rock as these are NOT part of our vibrant culture, just Radley and the Happy Boys type music and of course kitchen bands.
‘bonfire’ / ‘modern’
I can honestly say in my nine years on the island I have always gone to and enjoyed pirates week opening and closing , the cardboard boat race , the landing and fireworks . The addition of the night glow parade is something my children particularly enjoy. I can also say I have never been to any of the heritage days . Truth is , as with many things , places and events in Cayman I just don’t get the feeling we would be welcomed with the ‘ Cayman kind ‘ image myth that the tourism board likes to promote. Despite the fact of living here and contributing for nearly a decade and my children being born here I feel no more welcome on this island than I did on the day I stepped off the plane . There is still a them and us culture very much encouraged by politicians and the so called ‘ activists ‘ with their ridiculous facebook pages that means I have never really felt comfortable outside of the main tourist and expat areas . I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way and maybe this explains why the heritage days are not considered a success. I did have some friends visiting from overseas a couple of years ago who as we live near bodden town decided to go to the heritage day there . They stepped out of the car and were immediately approached by an individual who asked for a ‘ few dolla ‘ to make the journey to west bay for a job interview , when my friend said sorry but they didn’t have much cash on them the lady said you can drive me . When my friend said no she cussed them out , kissed her teeth and walked away . Having lived here for years im used to that crap ( kirks car park is always a good place for it ) but for my friends it will be there lasting impression of their one and only visit to bodden town . They didn’t bother staying for the heritage day .
I will be gone before pirates week this year but I hope everyone enjoys it both expat and local .
BooHoo, poor expat. Man try hush and stop complaining, you never had it so good!!
Where are your friends from? No beggers in their towns? Wow! It used to be, once upon a time, when locals and foreigners meshed and got along well. Then the Canadians, esp the Canadians, grew in number and started dissing the locals. Rich foreigners started blocking beach entrances and foreign employers hired foreigners. After a while, the kind smiles become disgusted frowns. The population went from 15,000 to 50,000, seemingly overnight. Too many people we no longer recognize in the streets, in the supermarkets. Cayman basically has too large a population. Some people need to go home. Rich and poor. Cayman will never be the same. Gone are the good ole days, forever. Bless all expat animal rescuers. We want to keep them. Those are the people the locals need to respect, as they care for the animals the locals want fed, spayed, neutered and vetted, but refuse to do themselves. It’s a different world out there nowadays. Anywhere you go.
I lived there for 7 years and by your comment glad I left when I did. When I first started working I never felt so unwelcome by Caymanian, talking about bullying in the workplace. I also saw how lazy Caymanians were but at the same time feeling they were entitled. Government was corrupted and most of the politicians. But I also did meet some Caymanians who were very nice and will remember my time in Cayman. I do agree that Cayman has grown too much but don’t blame the Canadians as I believe the Island is now too Americanized especially after Hurricane in 2001 … I mean did you really need a spot to Swim with the Dolphins.
1:45pm, sorry that your friends had such an insulting welcome, but that is not the way we welcome strangers. I am sorry that they did not come to our special PW/Heriitage Day, because I can assure you they would’ve enjoyed their visit. Bodden Town has heritage on display that no other district can offer.
I invite you to visit the heritage houses before you depart. We go the extra mile to show, explain and at times have a taste of our heritage.
The first non insulting answer . Thank you .
Go far and stay long!! people like you won’t be missed. you probably got rolled over maybe thats why your upset…Why did you come here if your country is free of beggars and full of kind people??? SOB
Caymankind
The bottom line is that PW isn’t pulling in the visitors any more. I didn’t make any checks last year but in 2015 my pre-PW internet search showed that the hotels were still having to offer room rate specials a week before it all kicked off. It may actually be that all the disruption has become counter-productive. Personally, I think it’s an over-rated pain the butt.
Pirates Week – a great week to go shopping in Miami.
Well that will prevent a couple shooting/stabbings at the district days… Although it could mean a very bloody 4 days in GT.
That actually sounds really cool! Back in the day, I went to all of the district days but slowly stopped making the trek to each. I hope this plan of doing it all in one day in one place works out for all.
But PLEASE don’t ever stop the festival!!!!
It seems like, in the last few years, there wasn’t much “heritage” in the District Heritage Days anyway.
None in Bodden Town last year, it was embarrassing.
Praise Jesus.