Fairbanks Pirate Festival - a possibility

[Karadimos]

I'm thinking about organizing a small pirate festival for the night of Sept. 18 and all day/night of the 19th. There are a lot of pirate enthusiasts around here and there are a lot of people who just like dressing up and having a good time. I'm looking for a few pointers, perhaps a few suggestions too.

This is my current plan.

Sept 18th - Evening

Alcohol Bash - My dad is good friends with the owner of the local brewery, so I might be able to talk Silver Gulch into hosting a beer tasting shindig for pirates. If not that, then I might be able to get the local alcohol wholesale company to host one of their tastings, perhaps a Rum Tasting. The whole idea behind this is beer/alcohol + pirates + local music and the ability to sleep it off for the next day's activities.

Sept 19th - Noonish

The Great River Pirate Battle - Head down the river that runs through town in boats, rafts, a floating bathtub, etc etc and blast the other ships with water guns and water cannons. I know it's not fancy, but it would be pretty fun.

Sept 19th - 6pm

Group Dinner somewhere

Sept 19th - 8pm

Pirate Ball - Proper attire required. Dancing, music, entertainment. I have the local ballroom dancers interested and I'm talking to the local burlesque group about possibly doing something.

What do you guys think? This is what I came up with this morning while I was waiting for a cake to finish baking.

[Dutchman]

the bash- ya might want to talk with the local brewery folks to see what works in that area. are there hotels or accomodations close by that can be within walking, stumbling, staggering, or head 'em for the doorway distance? how friendly are the local police towards such events. pirates will want to bring weapons, mix that with alcohol and in alaska maybe a bear or two..... hmmmmm.

the boat race sounds fun. maybe give them a challenge. how about make the boats out of cardboard, sheets of plastic and duct tape? entries have to make them the morning of-

Balls are always fun, don't expect every ones version of dressed correctly to be the same as yours though. some may be period, others holywood, some just short of fredricks of hollywood. just smile and enjoy what walks in the door- people watching is great. feed your party goers.

you will need start up $$$ to handle the bash and food for the ball, plus incidentals. i'm not sure about alaska law, but if someone gets hurt at either the bash or race, will event insurance be needed?

[Karadimos]

the boat race sounds fun. maybe give them a challenge. how about make the boats out of cardboard, sheets of plastic and duct tape? entries have to make them the morning of-

In September the water will be too cold. I'd rather have a safe festival then one with hypothermic pirates.