Arg, matey! Pirates Festival coming to Red Hook this weekend

By Jared Foretek

Calling all Brooklyn buccaneers!

Enviromedia Mobile, a travelling nature and maritime museum in Red Hook, will throw its first ever Treasure Cove Pirates Festival on July 30 — and you won’t have to hand over a single copper piece to be there.

The festival will feature pirate theater, pirate music, pirate “edutainment,” and yes, even a pirate ship, while leaving out all the scurvy, mutiny, and rum binges.

“It’s a fantastic festival,” said Ludger Balan, the museum’s culture director. “It’s as good as any one that goes on around the country.”

Indeed, these maritime celebrations are a common occurrence in places like Northern California, Tampa, Fla., Georgia’s Tybee Island, even Wisconsin.

In what’s sure to be a highlight of the family-friendly event — beyond photo-ops with Jack Sparrow look-alikes — young aspiring sailors can meet a team of seamen who set the record for the most days at sea without seeing land (1,152 days, or three years!). Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad’s record-setting vessel, the Schooner Anne, will be anchored nearby for visits.

Kids will also be able to participate in a catch-and-release fishing tournament, make arts and crafts, and canoe with the organizers, who will all be dressed as “The Pirates of Red Hook” — a team of buccaneers who “plunder for the natural resources of the urban estuary,” said Balan.

So start practicing your “Arg, mateys!” now.

Treasure Cove Pirates Festival at IKEA/Erie Basin Park [Beard Street between Otsego and Dwight streets in Red Hook, (347) 224-5828], July 30, 11 am-5 pm. Free. For info, visit emmredhookpirates.blogspot.com.