Hastings promises a host of attractions for its annual Pirate Day on Sunday July 16, including the creation by the local community of the biggest Pirate flag in the world on Pelham Beach, which will be filmed from the air; and the elite Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment’s free-fall parachute display team “The Tigers” performing and then landing on Hastings Pier.
Beginning at 11am and going on until 6pm, the line-up features: Scott Jeffers – a traveller violinist flying in from Phoenix, Arizona – and Blair’s Pirate Party , a local buccaneer made good! Plus there will be piratical music offerings including a full symphony orchestra dressed as pirates and playing music from Pirates of the Caribbean; Pyrates, a pirate folk band from Holland, and Battle Light Opera performing songs from the Pirates of Penzance.
The day will be a “Buccaneers’ Mile” with events from Hastings Old Town to St Leonards Warrior Square. Current holders of the Guinness World Record for the Largest Gathering of Pirates, Hastings turns into the pirate capital of the world as thousands dressed as pirates join in spectacular events, live pirate music, processions and general all-round swashbuckling action in a day of continuous entertainment.
Photo: courtesy of Scott Jeffers