Revamped Pirates Festival stretched to three months

(CNS): The annual Pirates Festival is undergoing another change and instead of a condensed version as was the case in 2021, the plan this year is to bring back the Heritage Days where each district hosts its own event at two-week intervals, beginning in September. The new three-month festival starts on 3 September with a kick-off event. Then on 17 September, the first Heritage Day events will be held in East End. The pirates are due to land on 12 November, and the main events take place the following weekend.

The goal is to support Cayman’s recovering tourism sector and promote local vendors, entrepreneurs and artists, according to officials.

At a press conference last week to announce the revamped festivities, culture Minister Bernie Bush, a former director of the festival, said the new extended festival aimed to preserve the best aspects of previous Pirates Weeks while developing new elements for both residents and tourists. Expanding the party to three months will give people the chance to attend a number of events that will highlight and celebrate Caymanian culture

“This is the start of a process to continuously be built on year to year,” said Bush.”We are looking forward to seeing local crafts, local musicians and certainly an endless spread of our local dishes. Reintroducing the District Heritage Days will also give each district the platform to showcase their uniqueness and we want every single aspect of our three islands to be highlighted,” he added.

Promising that more events will be added to the schedule in the weeks ahead, he made a direct appeal for volunteers and sponsors.

“To our past sponsors of Pirates Week, although the government is injecting significant funding, we welcome and want this to be a public-private partnership. The team will be reaching out to past sponsors and seeking new sponsors to make this Pirates Fest as good, if not better, than previous years,” Bush said.

Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said his ministry was always looking for ways to add new and exciting experiences that help to level out the peaks and valleys between the high and low tourist season. “Pirates Festivities provides lots of activities that can appeal to visitors and attract them to our shores,” he said, adding that his ministry and its agencies were working with overseas vendors to create enticing packages around the campaign.

“The Ministry of Culture has advised that approximately 160 pirates are already confirmed
to visit our shores in mid-November. The Pirates Week Office is also seeing an uptick in inquiries,
from families wanting to book their vacations, around the dates that the Pirates Week activities
are being held,” he added.

Ministry of Youth, Sports, Culture and Heritage (MYSCH) Events Manager Ventisha Conolly said there would be a strong focus on Cayman’s unique maritime history while acknowledging the islands’ piratical past. She said the festival was an opportunity to reimagine the historical aspects of that relationship, in partnership with the culture ministry’s agencies, including the Cayman Islands National Museum and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands.

The Pirates Festivities schedule of events and news is expected to be updated shortly here.