An East Yorkshire seaside town will be over-run by pirates this summer.
At least that is the hope of organisers of Withernsea Pirate Festival, a day of swashbuckling fun on the seafront. Everyone will be invited to dress in pirate finery (there will be prizes for the best) and to engage in fun, games, dancing, singing and more.
As well as pirate games, poets and storytellers, there will be live bands, stalls, glitter face painting and tattoos, and hair braiding, not forgetting the resort’s own answer to Jack Sparrow, Scallywag Jack, leading a pirate parade. Withernsea Pirate Festival comes to town on Saturday, July 19, and follows on from the success of a debut event last summer.
Sarah Bogg, one of the Withernsea Pirate Festival crew and wife of Scallywag Jack, aka Gary Bogg, said: “We want this to be a regular event in Withernsea. We want this year’s pirate festival to be even bigger and better than last year’s.”
The crew, including fellow pirates Will and Lin Wilson, are looking for support from the local community, through help with funding and by offering hands-on assistance, to create an event that it is hoped will draw pirates “from miles around”, like Whitby’s annual pirate festival. “We’re asking, are there some small businesses that might like a stall, at £5 a time?
“The more things that are happening, the better,” she said. “The plan is to bring even more people into Withernsea.
“We hope there are lots more pirates all dressed up for a fun-filled day in the sun. This year the festival will open with a big pirate parade into the main festival area at Valley Gardens.”
The free entertainment will run from noon to 4.30pm, with music from “some amazing local bands” into the evening, and a fully licensed bar. Sarah said she and her family started out going to other pirate festivals.
“Withernsea’s a beautiful area but it doesn’t get seen by people. I think the festival is something that will brighten the area and get people more interested from all over.”
The main sponsors for the 2025 Withernsea Pirate Festival are the Sir James Reckitt Foundation, Withernsea Lions and Withernsea Buffs. Find out more about the event and how you can support it on Facebook and at the festival website.
You can see pictures below from last year’s Withernsea Pirate Festival and of some of the people who go all-out pirate for such an occasion.
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