Pirate festival returns to traditional format
(CNS): After several years of experimenting with different formats, the annual Pirates Week Festival is returning to its traditional roots this year, spanning three weeks across all three islands with full heritage days in each district.
The 2024 festival, which kicks off on 8 November with the theme “Setting Sail Through Time”, will mark the milestones achieved since the first Pirates Week Festival in 1977, according to officials, who are attempting to define the event as part of the government’s policy aims.
Culture Minister Dwayne Seymour described the government-run festival as strategically important and the “embodiment of our local culture” that would align with the UPM policies.
“This year, we are taking a united and strategic approach to ensure the festival aligns with the broader goals of the government, including our commitment to protect and promote Caymanian culture, heritage and identity as outlined in Government’s Broad Outcome 5,” he said. “We are also thrilled to announce the return of District Days, where each district will have the opportunity to showcase its unique cultural identity within the overall tapestry of Caymanian society.”
The agenda for the event has not been released and there is no longer a website associated with the event, with little information for potential visitors on social media pages. Pirates Week was originally designed as a way of attracting tourists during the low season and used to take place in October.
An eight-member steering committee made up of representatives from government agencies and departments will ensure cross-governmental collaboration, officials said.
Festival Director Patrice Beersingh will chair the new committee. The other members are Director of Communications Oneisha Richards, Ministry of Culture Deputy Chief Officer Danielle Roberts (secretary), Cayman National Cultural Foundation CEO Natalie Urquhart, Kimberly Kirkconnell from the Department of Education Services, Niasha Ross from the Public Works Department, Sebastian Bodden from the Department of Tourism, and Superintendent Roje Williams from the RCIPS.
“Pirates Week is more than just a festival,” Beersingh said. “It is meant to be a celebration of our unique contributions to the world as Caymanians. Our goal is to foster a spirit of unity, pride and belonging in every person who calls these islands home. By working hand-in-hand across government and collaboratively with our private sector partners, we are demonstrating our commitment to not only preserving but elevating this cultural legacy.”
She said the theme speaks to the rich tapestry of history, heritage and identity that has shaped Cayman. “It invites our community to embark on a journey, honouring our past while charting a bold course for the future. Together, we can ensure that Pirates Week Festival remains a cultural legacy that strengthens our bonds as a community.”
Seymour said the festival requires significant collaboration as he thanked government leaders for their support and making key staff available. “Their commitment to collaboration and unification underscores our shared dedication to celebrating and preserving Caymanian culture. The collective expertise and deep community ties of this steering committee will ensure that Pirates Week resonates with every corner of Cayman’s diverse culture, fostering a sense of national pride and unity,” he added.
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Category: Heritage and Culture, Local News
Yes, we need more pirates and pirate celebrations on the Brac – they will fit right in with the shoppe/store owners here who charge outlandish prices – the pirates will undoubtedly feel at home on the Brac – aarrrrrrrrrggghhhhh
Good one 3:46pm – telling it like it is on Brac.
Has news of inflation among our trading partners not reached the Brac yet? We are all suffering under massive increases in the cost of transportation & goods. It isn’t limited to ‘Grand’, we are all subject to it and victims of it!
Not like on the Sister Islands, you aren’t.
Waiting for common sense to prevail and have Caymas and Batabano on the same day zzzzzzzzzzz
Batabano needs to be laid to rest..
There you have it. The CI government continues to express their commitment to protect and promote Caymanian “culture, heritage, and identity”, linking those to piracy and criminality. Over to you FCO. You can start with the $2.1 billion that they hid from the liabilities column of the Balance Sheet.
Presumably our politicians will not have to change clothes when attending Pirates week celebrations.
Cayman has culturally long romanticized those who enrich themselves via lawless defrauding, scams, and hustling. It’s strange that we don’t recognize the moral conflict between this embraced and celebrated identity, and juxtaposing fundamental Christian tenets, or pragmatically: our own struggles to remove ourselves from international regulatory watchlists and repel continued suspicion. What do we actually stand for, and does that depend on who’s asking, or whether our fingers were crossed behind our backs?
It’s hilarious to me that you suggest there’s some juxtaposition or incompatibility between swindlers and religious organizations.
(Spoilers: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/theyre-the-same-picture)
Er’ybody looking for Duke, and he right deh. See him deh now!
I wonder……… in which way will this Pirate’s Days differ from the past few years? Will we discount the flights to the Brac, so there can once again be a presence? Will we be aware enough to have L.C.’s Pirates Days right on the tail of the Brac’s? That would be efficient for passengers/visitors/travelers who want enjoy the Pirateness for more than a week.
I thought the “traditional” format was a 1 week event? At least that’s what I recall during to 70’s and 80’s.
It began as a fun tongue-in-cheek Rotary costume drinking event. Now it’s been appropriated as a solemn cultural festival celebrating this identity. Simultaneously both bizarre and tragic.
Wild how Rotary originated the islands’ biggest festivals
expats….
It was not Rotary, it was Jim Bodden , following the release of Andy Humphrey’s movie The Cayman Triangle that inspired it.
Quite correct. The Rotary Club of Brand Cayman did start Batanabo thanks to Past President David Peynado. It was very different in those days. All good clean fun not like today.
I say do away with it all together.
only a landlubber would say that….argghhhh!
Who are the people I saw in a newspaper picture supposedly reviving this. Most were not even from here or living here when Pirates week started.
well then, we are wasting it on all the other “festivals” also!
East End Heritage Day is where all the good food is at.
East end is where the good food is at any day. Hey Miss V.
yep…they can’t walk straight but they do a mean fish fry!
Fresh poached turtle is the best turtle 🐢
And kunks and wilks Bobo!
4.36pm Was at. Cooked by Jamaicans now with Ginger in Conch and Browning in Turtle.
Piracy, the Cayman way.
Yawn!
Can someone please ensure John-DuhWayne-John has someone drive him to and from each district day? That’s a lot of Tahoes!
Personally I’d pay big money to see him keel hauled.
Should not even have a licence!
He should not even have a job.
I hope they dress Seymour & O’Connor-Conlely up as they are huge Pirates fr fleecing us big time.
Cancel this. The last thing Cayman needs is to continue to stoke cultural affinities for piracy.
I think that I understand where you are coming from but we cannot simply close our eyes to our past.
I would like to see us evolve it and use it as a tool to attract visitors to Cayman.
…but for the sake of transparency…?
The endless waste of public money must continue at all costs.
As anyone who has taken the Permanent Residency test should know, Pirates Week is THE National Festival. No mention of that by the Committee?
Cracks me up everytime I see Jon Jon and Minister of Culture in the same sentence
No no. Culcha. Different thing entirely.
district heritage days for place with zero to little real culture or heritage????…..zzzzzzzz
but then again, the real culture of cayman is corruption, greed, tax evasion, money laundering……some maybe there is some merit to pirates week afterall!
So what attracted you to come here then?
Hedge Funds
Exactly, you are a pirate with a necktie.
It’s a haaaarrrd knock life, for us.
corruption, greed, tax evasion, money laundering…..hello????
What Legge said.
That is all your system, your culture and your negative influences which you and those like you of “The City of London” brought here with you as the conceited and toxic charlatan blackguards you are. I am Caymanian, we are not like you and I am thankful for that.
district heritage days are a bad expensive joke..
wonderland stuff to think you have different heritage/cultures on 4 x 25 tiny rock with 40k locals…
don’t say it like it is!!
The best thing about district functions is the FOOD…!
Culture Minister Dwayne Seymour was later heard saying “Aaarrr too da baaarrrrr”……….
He will be downing lots of merry drinks
UPM – Unna pissing money