Pirate flags and scallywags of all ages inundated the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier on Saturday and Sunday for the 2013 Pirate Invasion, flaunting their best costumes while enjoying live music.
The Pirate Invasion and Faire brought young and old ragged pirates to Long Beach’s Belmont Shore for the sixth year in a row. The pirate-themed festival was complete with sidewalk vendors selling mystical trinkets, pirate get-ups and pirate grub.
The event originated as a pirate- themed music festival and eventually grew into the Pirate Invasion, according to Angel Butterbottom, an attendee who has participated in the event for the past four years.
“After the success of the music festival, they figured ‘why don’t we just add in more pirates?’” Butterbottom said. “So they added the pirates to come into the circuit, and next thing you know, here we are.”
The festival had a flea-market atmosphere, drawing in a crowd of random attendees who stumbled upon the event as well as pirate enthusiasts. Staying true to the theme of the event, a buccaneer encampment was also set up on the sand below the pier, where traveling actors got to take on their best pirate personas.
Kids were also found flaunting their best buccaneer uniforms in hopes of winning carnival contests, a necessary element to complete the spirit of the fair. Children were able to participate in hula-hoop and limbo contests but also had the option of playing in pirate ship bounce houses and inflatable slides.
Pirate vendors lined the length of the pier, selling everything from jewelry and full-fledged pirate garments to airbrush tattoos and pirate accessories like flask-jugs, eye patches and skullcaps.
There were enticing events throughout the day like sword fights, treasure hunts and replica pirate ships attacking the pier. The ships took turns racing by the pier and shot off deafening flash-powder cannons. With each explosive blast, older audience members lined up across the pier and applauded while younger ones screamed with excitement.
At the end of the pier, vendors sold pirate grub from menus that included dishes like greasy turkey legs, sausages and garlic fries, or “pirate breath mints,” as the food handler called them.
Picnic tables were provided for seating in front of the main stage, to the right of the pier bar and grill. The audience enjoyed their meals while Captain Johnnies Pirate Band kept the crowd lively.
Performing while clad in pirate wear, the band gave an energetic performance, singing pirate classics in their raspiest voices like “A Pirate’s Life for Me” and “Fifteen Men on A Dead Man’s Chest.”
A two-pirate duo called Joust Kidding put on another smaller musical performance in a tapestry-covered booth located near the middle of the pier. The duo performed a crowd favorite, “Drunken Sailor,” encouraging the crowd to join in and sing along to the accordion-heavy track.
After a two-day pirate invasion, the subculture of Southern California pirates staggered away one by one, with sea-salt in their beards and rum in their bellies, ending the Pirate Invasion until next year.