Community Corner
Ye Pirates Abound at the LIMM Festival
Despite weather conditions, more than 2,000 attendees make their way to the festival.
Swashbucklers big and small made their way down to the this weekend for the annual Pirate Festival and over the course of the two days, the event hosted more than 2,000 attendees despite weather conditions.
There was something for all ages to enjoy with skits by the pirate troupes, treasure hunts through the grounds of the museum, a pirate contest for the children and live musical entertainment courtesy of the Brigands and Strike in the Bell, providing period music and sea shanties.
The museum last held the festival in 2008 but decided to bring it back to life this year to coincide with the release of the “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
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“There’s such a Pirate mania going on right now and we thought this was just a great family event so we decided to bring it back this year,” said Kathleen Prokesch, director of marketing and special events for the museum.
Each child who came to the festival dressed up was able to pick out an eye patch or a slap bracelet from the gift store. “There were just a ton of kids dressed up in costume and they had a blast showing off their looks,” Prokesch said. There were also plenty of adults who participated too, she said. Awards were given out to the best boy and girl pirate costumes, with the winners walking away with a family four-pack to Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead.
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Ye Pyrate Brotherhood, a Sayville-based Pirate troupe, led the children on a treasure hunt. Ye Pyrate Brotherhood travels Long Island and New York State to appear at festivals, where they perform skits, teach history lessons and show off their costumes and weaponry. Also on hand were Kings of the Coast and Captain Hawkeye and the Red Hook Pirates from Brooklyn, who were showing kids how to do block printing with stampers, a custom that dates back to the 1800s.
“We were very pleased with the crowds that came out over the weekend considering the weather conditions,” Prokesch said. “We expect it to be even bigger and better next year.”
Coinciding with Pirate Festival was a Classic Boat show shown off by members of the Long Island Chapter of the Classic Boat Society.
