KEY LARGO, Florida Keys - According to history and legend, the pirate Black Caesar roved Florida’s coastal waters in the early 19th century. According to the organizers of the Key Largo Pirates Festival, set for October 22-25, the notorious pirate will make a comeback during the festival.
Piratefest festivities are to kick off on Thursday October 22nd with a Captain Morgan Look Alike Party and an opportunity to revel with local pirates at Snappers Restaurant mile marker (MM) 94.5 Oceanside beginning at 6.30pm.
On Friday, Oct. 23, join in the second annual Pirate Parade. The procession gathers at 5:00 p.m. at the Pilot House Restaurant and meanders its way to the Holiday Inn Tiki Bar, MM 100 Oceanside — not far from the place where Black Caesar is thought to have maintained a harem and buried treasure worth millions of dollars.
Parade and float judging are to begin at the Holiday Inn Tiki Bar at 7 p.m., along with a Pirate Bash poolside with live music, dancing, grub and grog. Tickets for the bash are $18 per person plus tax and gratuity. Entry for the parade is free, early entry by October 22nd will earn a souvenir event t-shirt. Entry forms can be downloaded here.
Those eager to come face-to-face with the fearsome pirate — or at least his modern-day stand-in — are likely to do so Saturday, Oct. 24, from noon to 11 p.m. at MM 104 bayside. Caesar and his buccaneer brethren might be spotted haunting the Pirate Bazaar and Thieves’ Market, set to begin at noon at the Big Chill, Sundowners, Cactus Jacks & Señor Frijoles.
Throughout the afternoon and evening swashbucklers of all ages will thrill to the entertainment of the Bone Island Buccaneers with interactive fight rings, pirate hunting games, story telling of the golden age of piracy, to action-packed stage performances with traditional pirate songs, live-steel swordplay, black powder weapons demonstrations including pistols, rifles and cannons.
Live music at Sundowners and the Big Chill bayside complexes on Blackwater Sound commences at 2 p.m. The pillaging and plundering is to intensify at 6 p.m. as pirates invade Key Largo in a professionally choreographed re-enactment of Black Caesar’s return — complete with artillery line, encampments, battles and skits on Blackwater Sound. These can be viewed from Sundowners and the Big Chill. Grog, grooves and golden treasure are to abound as the bazaar continues well past the blasts of festive fireworks set for 9 p.m.
The action Sunday, Oct. 25, is to include Black Caesar’s By-Land-or-Sea Booty Hunt beginning at 11 a.m. at Sundowners, MM 104. Pirates are expected to collect clues and return to the Caribbean Club for the divvy up of the Booty.
The pirate festival is to culminate in a Buccaneer Finale at the Caribbean Club, MM 104 bayside. Attendees can expect to find wild-eyed pirates jiving to live music and imbibing the island’s grub and grog. Adult and children’s costume contests for the Festivals Best Buccaneer, Sauciest Wench and in the category age 14 and under, Likeliest Lad and Loveliest Wench.
For and more festival information, call Sue Finney at (305) 394-3736.
For information on area accommodations, call the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce at (800) 822-1088 or (305) 451-4747, or explore this Web site
