Ahoy mateys. There is still time to set sail for the third annual Guelph Pirate Festival at Marden Park.
“The Pirate Festival is 13 years old,” said co-organizer Mike McLay aka Smee. “It started in Toronto and we moved out because Toronto didn’t want to play. We found that Guelph really liked us so, we moved here and people come and play. It is lovely. We really love being here.”
It is the third year the festival has been held at Marden Park and the cast of characters and visitors continues to grow.
“This year we got six or seven new vendors, three new acts and mermaids,” said McLay.
“Just look around. There are kids everywhere with some kind of pirate garb on. We get a lot of young adults too who just love to come dressed as pirates or dressed as something other than the normal street dress. They find interesting stuff at the vendors and away they go.”
There was a variety of theatre and musical shows throughout each day performed on six separate stages as well as a bouncy pirate ship, face painting and other pirate-related activities.
“We have sword fights and a blacksmith demonstration,” said co-organizer Antonio DeCoppi aka Captain Kheir-Ed-Din. “We have pirated Shakespeare, pirated fairy tales, magicians and a mud show, which is unique to our festival. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a bunch of people jumping around in the mud.”
Both McLay and DeCoppi are professional actors and the festival draws many actors and theatrical performers who really enjoy the opportunity to get into character and escape the modern world for three days each summer.
“We wanted to take advantage of the August long weekend,” said DeCoppi. “We plan for this all year long and to go only two days would seem almost tragic so, we put the third day in. It’s great because the cast and everyone involved is game for a third day.”
DeCoppi said the festival attracts pirate fans from Guelph and beyond.
“You’d be surprised,” he said. “It wasn’t until we took over that we learned there are pirates all over North America. I think people have really fallen in love with the romanticized idea of pirates – of freedom and life on the sea by yourself away from the taxman, away from the job and the costumes are cool.”
Today is the final day to visit the festival that runs from 11am to 6pm.
To learn more visit the Pirate Festival website or on Facebook at the Guelph Pirate Festival.
