Seafair Pirates

Last updated

The Seattle, Washington Seafair Pirates are a voluntary group of people started in 1949 by the members of the Washington State Press Club. They joined with other community leaders to create Seattle's first Seafair Festival in 1950.

Contents

Seafair Pirates Moby Duck at the Torchlight Parade with Seattle's landmark Space Needle in the background (2013) Seafair 2013 Day 9 2013-07-27 21-38-17.JPG
Seafair Pirates Moby Duck at the Torchlight Parade with Seattle's landmark Space Needle in the background (2013)

The Seafair Pirates was founded in 1949 by some of the younger members of the Ale & Quail Society. The group was created to help provide some entertainment and to promote the Seafair festival in Seattle, Washington. The Seafair Pirates are a dedicated group who take their roles as pirates seriously. There is a rigorous process to even being considered when joining the group, as they only want individuals who will dedicate themselves. They are present at the Seafair parades during the summer months, and the boom of their cannons warn the crowd that they are coming.

Charity

The group entertains and raise funds for different charities all year.

Pirates and Seattle community events

Seafair Pirates at the Chinatown Seafair Parade (2008). 2008 Seattle Chinatown Seafair Parade - Seafair Pirates 04.jpg
Seafair Pirates at the Chinatown Seafair Parade (2008).

The Seafair festival is a monthlong festival that starts with the Seafair Pirates Landing [1] at Alki Beach in Seattle, usually during the first Saturday of July. Throughout the summer the Seafair Pirates participate in approximately 40 local festivals as well as several hundred private appearances. The grand finale is the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade that occurs in August. "Seafair has become a home town jewel that reaches nearly 2 million Puget Sound residents each summer." [2]

The Seafair Torchlight Parade is a regular highlight of the Seafair summer festival. In 1999, the parade featured 4,000 participants on more than 100 floats and in bands and dance and entertainment acts. [3] This parade is ranked the largest nighttime parade in the Northwest, with drill teams, community floats, regional and international bands, equestrian units, giant helium balloons, clowns and pirates. [4]

The Pirates outside Seattle

The Seafair Pirates are goodwill ambassadors for the city of Seattle, and have traveled across the United States and Canada, as well as to Grand Cayman, Mazatlán, Kobe, and Taiwan. They formerly travelled to the Cayman Islands for Pirate Week. In 2007, Sports Illustrated was shooting its Swimsuit Issue for 2008 and the pirates appeared in full uniform with model Melissa Haro. [5]

History

In 1949 the younger members of the Washington State Press Club's action committee, the Ale & Quail Society, founded the Seattle Seafair Pirates. The members of the Society then joined with other community leaders to create Seattle's first Seafair festival in 1950. Since that time the Seattle Seafair Pirates have directed their energies and talents toward the promotion and production of Seattle's annual Seafair festivities.

Every summer since 1950 the Seafair festivities have begun with the annual proclamation of Davy Jones' renewed warfare upon the upstart, so-called "King" Neptune. In due course the city falls and the Mayor hands over the keys to the city at the Pirate's Landing. The Seafair Pirates have triumphed again!

In early days the Seafair Pirates' triumph often included the burning of Neptune's flagship, complete with fire-works. That stopped when the supply of derelict ships became depleted.

The Seafair Pirates are led by Captain Kidd and Davy Jones. Captain Kidd is elected by the Ale & Quail Society to lead their pirate operations. Davy Jones, an honorary Seafair Pirate, is chosen from the Seattle community to sail with the Pirates for one year.

Always seeking to promote Seattle and Seafair, the Seafair Pirates have had many adventures over the years. According to the Pirates' website, in 1953 the Seafair Pirates heard of a fund that had been established to ransom British subjects captured by pirates. By then the fund was worth well over a million dollars. In an attempt to collect this treasure the Seafair Pirates "kidnapped" the British consul and vice-consul, informing the government of Britain that the pirates of old were still in business. While they were mentioned in The Times (of London), they did not receive any payment. [6]

Pirate ships

The Moby Duck Mobyduck.jpg
The Moby Duck

The Seafair Pirates command two ships.

The Moby Duck is a former DUKW from World War II which has been highly modified to resemble an old Spanish galleon. The Moby Duck has a Federal Signal Q2B siren. The Moby Duck was formerly amphibious but now sails only on dry land. [7]

In 2006, the pirates acquired a hydroplane, the U-37, better known as the Miss Seattle. The boat had a previous existence as the U-8 Llumar Window Film, and has won the 2005 Seafair Chevrolet Cup (and two other races outside Seattle) and also won the 2006 Seafair Chevrolet Cup. Jean Theoret will continue to pilot the boat in races. The boat's official owner is Billy Schumacher, a boat racing celebrity.

Notes

  1. Seafair Pirates Landing, Seafair Pirates official site
  2. Seafair :: About Seafair :: History
  3. Sarah Skidmore, 50 years young, Seafair's Torchlight Parade will strut its stuff tonight, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 31, 1999.
  4. "Seafair calendar". The Seattle Times. 2006-07-26. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24.
  5. "Seafair Pirates land in Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue". Tacoma News, Inc. 2008-02-13. Archived from the original on 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  6. "History Of Captain Kidds". Archived from the original on 2014-08-14.
  7. Seattle Seafair Pirates Moby Duck Archived March 7, 2001, at the Wayback Machine

Related Research Articles

Parade Procession, esp. celebratory, of people

A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind. In British English, the term 'parade' is usually reserved for either military parades or other occasions where participants march in formation; for celebratory occasions, the word procession is more usual. In the Canadian Forces, the term also has several less formal connotations.

Southsea Human settlement in England

Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's settlements were incorporated into the boundaries of Portsmouth in 1904.

Green Lake (Seattle) Lake and park in north central Seattle, Washington

Green Lake is a freshwater lake in north central Seattle, Washington, within Green Lake Park. The park is surrounded by the Green Lake neighborhood to the north and east, the Wallingford neighborhood to the south, the Phinney Ridge neighborhood to the west, and Woodland Park to the southwest. It is a glacial lake, its basin having been dug 50,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington, Union, Bitter and Haller Lakes.

Seafair

Seafair is a summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. While many small block parties and local parades occur under the auspices of Seafair, most Seattle residents associate Seafair with the Torchlight Parade, Seafair Cup hydroplane races, and the Blue Angels. Seafair has been an annual event in Seattle since 1950 but its roots can be traced to the 1911 Seattle Golden Potlatch Celebrations.

West Seattle Neighborhood between the Duwamish River and Puget Sound

West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an independent town in 1902 before being annexed by Seattle five years later. Among the area's attractions are its saltwater beach parks along Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, including Alki Beach Park and Lincoln Park. The area is also known for its views of the Olympic Mountains to the west and the Cascade Range to the east. One-third of Seattle's green space and urban forest is located in West Seattle, much of it in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.

USS <i>Sampson</i> (DDG-102) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Sampson (DDG-102) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Funding for the Flight IIA ship was authorized in 2002 and her keel was laid on 20 March 2005. She is the fourth US Navy ship named to honor Rear Admiral William T. Sampson.

Ivars Seafood restaurant chain in the U.S. state of Washington

Ivar's is a seafood restaurant chain based in Seattle, Washington, United States, with operations in the Puget Sound region and in Spokane, Washington.

Gasparilla Pirate Festival

The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar, who is a popular figure in Florida folklore even though there is no evidence that he actually existed. The centerpiece of Gasparilla is the Parade of Pirates, which is held on the last Saturday in January and is organized by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG), a local organization modeled after the "krewes" of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. On Gasparilla Day, members of YMKG sail across Tampa Bay aboard the Jose Gasparilla, a specially built 165-foot-long (50 m) "pirate ship" equipped with loud mini-cannons that fire continuously during its journey. Surrounded by thousands of revelers on private boats, the pirates make their way to the Tampa Convention Center, where the mayor surrenders the key to the city in a playful ceremony. Victory secured, members of Ye Mystic Krewe are joined by dozens of other krewes and community organizations in a long "victory parade" along Bayshore Boulevard, throwing beads and other trinkets to the assembled crowds along the way. The parade route has traditionally ended in downtown Tampa, and since 2011, it has ended along the Tampa Riverwalk, where festivities continue into the nighttime hours.

Torchlight Parade

The Torchlight Parade is the finale in a long series of parades around the greater Seattle area under the auspices of Seafair, a Seattle summertime celebration. The parade is one of the original Seafair events dating to the 1950 centennial celebration. The first parade was held on August 12, 1950, in the afternoon, as the Seafair Grande Parade.

Robert "Bobby" London is an American underground comix and mainstream comics artist. His style evokes the work of early American cartoonists like George Herriman and Elzie Crisler Segar.

Philippine Independence Day Parade

The Philippine Independence Day Parade takes place annually in the United States along Madison Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The parade is held on the first Sunday in June. Its main purpose is to create awareness of Philippine culture and to raise funds for charity projects in the Philippines and the United States.

Solstice Cyclists Artistic clothing-optional bike ride

The Solstice Cyclists is an artistic, non-political, clothing-optional bike ride celebrating the Summer Solstice. It is the unofficial start of the Summer Solstice Parade & Pageant, an event produced by the Fremont Arts Council in the Fremont district of Seattle.

The Billy Bowlegs Festival grew out of a Labor Day ski show celebration back in 1953, which was the brainchild of some enterprising young businessmen, the JAYCEES, eager to latch onto a project that would warrant their time and efforts, be fun, and bring more tourists into the area. The idea of a Gasparilla-type observance centered on a “pirate” theme, and they unanimously chose as their patron pirate the notorious and legendary William Augustus Bowles, a pirate of controversial authenticity whose alleged dastardly deeds were widespread throughout the area. Nathan Fleet, a downtown Fort Walton Beach retail merchant at that time, was chosen as the first Captain Billy Bowlegs to reign over the Festival and lead the pirate “raids.” The overwhelming success and acceptance of the initial celebration sparked great enthusiasm and interest among other businessmen of the community. A small group of merchants, of which two, together with two from the JAYCEES, were secretly delegated to choose from the member list the Billy Bowlegs as reigning pirate of the three-day festival, his identity to remain unknown until the unmasking ceremonies took place on the evening of the grant ball. Due to the huge success of the festival, events were added such as treasure hunts - typically the most popular part of the entire festival, but inexplicably eliminated in 2009 - parades, gigantic fireworks displays, athletic events, a landing to include the townspeople with the “capture” of the City and the hoisting of the Jolly Roger to signify the total surrender of the City. Beards were grown, costumes made, and over the years became more elaborate. Professional floats were added to the Grand Torchlight Parade and a glittering Coronation Pageant, open to the public, at which a new Cap’n Billy, his queen, a first mate and his lady, ten honor guard couples and children of the court are unmasked each year, with a private ball and midnight breakfast for Krewe members and honored guests climaxing the now week-long festival. Thus a tradition was born: The Billy Bowlegs Festival, with the infamous Krewe of Bowlegs and its current Cap’n as the “Star” of the show.

Duck tour Tours on purpose-built amphibious vehicles

Duck tours are tours that take place on purpose-built amphibious tour buses and (modified) surplus amphibious military vehicles, like DUKWs ("Ducks") and LARC-Vs. They are often offered as tourist attractions in harbor, river and lake cities.

Blessing of the Fleet

The Blessing of the Fleet is a tradition that began centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities. The practice began predominantly Catholic, but is now practiced by all Christians as a blessing from the local priest and pastors that is meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season.

Cincinnati Pride Festival and celebration in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival is a week-long celebration of the city's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other identities ([LGBTQ+]) community. The festivities are typically held annually at the end of June but have happened as early as April and as late as July in various locations of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Christmas ships

Christmas ships are boat parades held at Christmastime, typically featuring boats festooned with Christmas lights or winter/holiday decorations.