Enhanced: Pirates Festivities 2022

The Pirates Festivities are back for the first time since 2019 – and this year the festivities are spread over a 13-week period to ensure everyone gets enough time and opportunity to enjoy all the wonderful events that the Cayman Islands have become world renowned for.

Following a two-year festival hiatus, the Ministers for Youth, Sports, Culture & Heritage, Bernie Bush and for Tourism & Transport, Kenneth Bryan outlined plans for this year’s Pirates Festivities, running from 3 September – 26 November.

Bush said: “The reintroduction of Pirates Festivities is the start of a process to be continuously held year to year. This event is a long time held tradition which promotes our islands, brings visibility to our culture and provides our local and talented artists a place to showcase their talents. We are looking forward to seeing local crafts, local musicians and certainly, the thing most people look forward to is the difference between foods from different districts. The way certain foods are cooked and how unique they are.”

Bush added that the event is no longer one week but been expanded to three months. He emphasised that the five District Days are spaced out to make it more family friendly and affordable for people and it also gave organisers more time to showcase their heritage and culture.

Although the programme is greatly expanded, Bush highlighted the fact that on the 12 November the traditional Pirates Invasion, when they symbolically capture – or save - the Governor will be staged. “I do hope his sword fighting skills are good,” he joked.

Old favourite events are returning, such as Pan in the City, the Steel Pan competition, the Cardboard Regatta, a revitalised Float Parade.

There will also be a half-mile sea swim, organised in conjunction with the Flowers Group. “The benefits of this race will go to the newly formed John Gray High School Swim Club. We’ll also see a 5k race which will be organised by the Mustang Track Club and it will be named the Jerry Harper 5k.”

Bush requested past sponsors to “come and work with us, especially companies on the water front. We are saying to you that the fireworks display depends on all the companies on the water front working with us. We have to have partnerships to make this a successful event and make it so that everyone will start to look forward to it again.”