July 9 Wilmington Pirate Day

[WilmPirateDay]

A day full of pirate-filled festivities for all ages: treasure hunts, costume contests, face painting, and more for the wee ones, and music and deck tours of an authenticate 1630's sailing ship for everyone!

Events

Treasure Hunt

Kalmar Nyckel Ship Tour

Face Painting

Boat Building

Photos with Pirates

Build Your Own Treasure Chest

Balloon Swords

Ornamental Knots Sale & Instruction

Scavenger Hunt

Pirate Parade

Pirate Demo

Costume Contest with prizes!

Music

Scales and Crosstones

Pirates for Sail

Diamond State Concert Band

New Sweden

[Dutchman]

ahoy wilmpirate,

thank you for providing information on this. many of us are plan on attending. we could use some more information though.

what is the physical address of the event?

are there any hotels close by or will camping be allowed?

any night time activities for people coming in from out of town?

and this one always comes up... any rules about visiting pirates carrying weapons or swords?

warning, if the answer is no people will complain, disregard it- its been beat to death in the forums before and the events are always great.

[WilmPirateDay]

Ahoy!

Thanks for the reply! Here are answers the best I have them.

The festival will be at Tubman-Garrett Park in Wilmington, Delaware:

Tubman-Garrett Park

#1 S King Street

Wilmington, DE 19801

It's only a one day event, so no camping this year. If successful it will be a multi-day event next year. Here is a link to a map and some nearby hotels:

http://maps.google.com/maps?near=1+S+King+St,+Wilmington,+DE+19801&geocode=CVBceEkCl7wHFUJZXgIdzSp_-ynRw5sLaP3GiTEeGIfouUrWOg&q=hotels&f=l&sll=39.737571,-75.552056&sspn=0.008135,0.013078&ie=UTF8&hq=hotels&hnear=&ll=39.724881,-75.551262&spn=0.06344,0.104628&t=h&z=14

As I say, it's a one day event, so not so much happening Friday night (next year though!). The festival ends at 5:00pm but keeps going at the local ballpark - it's Pirate Night at the Wilmington Blue Rocks (bluerocks.com) for any Single-A baseball fans out there. They'd love to see people in costume.

Peace tied weapons will be allowed at Tubman-Garrett, but not at the Blue Rocks stadium.

Thanks for the questions. If there's anything else I can do to help, I'll be happy to do so. We got a late start this year so we're falling short of what we originally planned, but next year aims to be much better.

ahoy wilmpirate,

thank you for providing information on this. many of us are plan on attending. we could use some more information though.

what is the physical address of the event?

are there any hotels close by or will camping be allowed?

any night time activities for people coming in from out of town?

and this one always comes up... any rules about visiting pirates carrying weapons or swords?

warning, if the answer is no people will complain, disregard it- its been beat to death in the forums before and the events are always great.

[MajorChaos]

So, who all is going to be there?

We (The Vigilant Crew) got this in response to what are we doing:

"Basically the pirates will be roaming through the crowd...and doing what pirates do...you know, educating. As far as flys go, there is a "no stake" policy at the park do to underground sprinkler system. There will be a roped off area at the river for firing our cannons, muskets and pistols. The Kalmar Nyckel's shallop will be on the river returning fire with their 1" swivel.”

I keep thinking about going, but I don't really feel like carrying my stuff around all day with no place to drop it off for a bit of a rest.

Maybe if I know more are going to be there, I might change me mind... again.

[WilmPirateDay]

Ahoy!

Here is a link to our fact sheet, which lists all the activities for the day, The music for the day looks like this:

11:00 Scales and Crosstones

12:00 Pirates for Sail

1:00 Diamond State Concert Band

2:00 Pirate Parade and Costume Contest

3:00 New Sweden

4:00 Pirates for Sail

5:00 Wrap-up

Hopefully that helps!

So, who all is going to be there?

We (The Vigilant Crew) got this in response to what are we doing:

"Basically the pirates will be roaming through the crowd...and doing what pirates do...you know, educating. As far as flys go, there is a "no stake" policy at the park do to underground sprinkler system. There will be a roped off area at the river for firing our cannons, muskets and pistols. The Kalmar Nyckel's shallop will be on the river returning fire with their 1" swivel."

I keep thinking about going, but I don't really feel like carrying my stuff around all day with no place to drop it off for a bit of a rest.

Maybe if I know more are going to be there, I might change me mind... again.

[Dutchman]

wilm pirate- unfortunately, there are more questions than answers-

"Basically the pirates will be roaming through the crowd...and doing what pirates do...you know, educating."

- ok, what sort of educating are you looking for. not all pirate crews are education focused. the info says "pirate demo's". who's doing it and what are they doing. its not worth while bringing our folks in to duplicate what you already have lined up.

"As far as flys go, there is a "no stake" policy at the park do to underground sprinkler system."

-no biggie, it happens. fortunately the plot you provided shows some shade. will water or snacks be provided to folks you are asking to come in and do..... you know, educating?

"There will be a roped off area at the river for firing our cannons, muskets and pistols. The Kalmar Nyckel's shallop will be on the river returning fire with their 1" swivel."

-our who? will there be alcohol at this venue? if so, who is monitoring the firing line. safety inspections? what is the weapon policy of the venue itself?????

sorry to sound so critical, but these are basic needs that a lot of folks will want to know before making a trip to see you.

[Capt. Sterling]

Parking? Where? Is it separate for participants or first come first served? Free or will pirates need to pay? (need to know so folks can make sure they have it on em if needed)

Insurance for crews as we were asked about this earlier?

I would like to emphasise this one...our who? will there be alcohol at this venue? if so, who is monitoring the firing line. safety inspections? what is the weapon policy of the venue itself?????

Edited July 7, 2011 by Capt. Sterling

[Dutchman]

ok, i reviewed the older posts....

"Peace tied weapons will be allowed at Tubman-Garrett, but not at the Blue Rocks stadium."

[MajorChaos]

I know my crew really wanted to support the Nyckel and this event, but with so little information and so much other personel things that need to be taken care of, we just won't be able to be there this year. Next year maybe.

[WilmPirateDay]

Hi guys:

I apologise for the lateness of the response - just plain busy.

Yes, weapons are allowed. We're pirates after all. There will be an area for black powder demonstrations, both of the small (pistol) and larger (cannon) variety.

Parking is nearby. The closest parking across the street is commercial. There is free parking along the riverfront by the Blue Rocks stadium; there is a path along the river that goes right to the venue. We've got a quick map and directions here: http://www.kalmarnyckel.org/wilmingtonpirateday/components/directions_parking.pdf

There will be beer! And food. I'm not sure what the 'lite' form of beer will be, but we will also have a "Kalmar Nyckel Red".

The event is insured. Separate pirate groups will not need their own insurance.

"Roaming pirates". Other than the schedule already posted, roaming pirates will be in attendance mostly to keep the crowd entertained, answer questions about who pirates really were, the types of equipment they used, how they lived, and so on, and otherwise interact with the crowd for entertainment purposes.

Hopefully this doesn't get to you too late. If this year is successful we're in the early stages of planning a weekend-long festival next year.

[Dutchman]

Wilm pirate,

thank you for fielding our battery of questions. Unfortunately, it isn't in the cards for me this year. I will be making a donation directly to the Nykel, and haranguing the crew into a donation as well. I certainly hope next year will bring a full weekend event as this year will be a success for you!

ymhs- dutch