Conwy – number one for pirate action

Attendees at this year’s Conwy Pirate Festival have dubbed it the number one event for pirate action in the UK. The town’s quayside was lined with cannons and sharp-shooters for defence against the daily attack from the pirate schooner ‘Vilma’.

Andrew Heathcote of the Anglesey Hussars, a Napoleonic era re-enactment group tasked with manning the town’s defences, said: “A whole quayside full of guns and cannons that are firing on a ship that’s also full of guns and cannons, it just doesn’t get much better than that! You’d really have to go some way to find a pirate event with bigger artillery than Conwy has”.

The annual event that took place on the 7-8 May played host to multiple re-enactment groups, including the Anglesey Hussars, HMS Wales, the Brunswicks (aka Crusade Re-enactment), the 79th Cameron Highlanders, the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers and the Tree of Shields Hema Group.

Between them they created an action-packed pirate attack full of clashing swords, explosions and the invasion of Conwy’s 13th century castle.

Russel Erwood, Conwy’s official Jester and the newly-appointed chairperson for the Conwy Chamber of Trade (CoT), who host the event, stated: “This year’s pirate festival is our most successful yet”. He continued, “I’ve been involved with the festival since the very first one in 2012 and it’s grown into something none of us expected it could become. This year, it attracted more people to town than we ever had before and has given our local economy the boost it needed. I just don’t know how we’re going to top it, but we’re going to give it go”.

By Elliot R. Wood*

The festival was the brainchild of the former chairman of the CoT, Toby Tunstall, as a means of generating business for the town when it would otherwise be quiet. Toby explained, “The idea of the Pirate Weekend, as it was originally known, was to create a kind of artificial bank holiday at a time of year Conwy Town was traditionally quiet. Over the years, it’s really grown into something quite spectacular that has something for everyone”.

During the day, the quayside marquee played host to the Smugglers Market and several games, including a giant bar skittles, cannon game and skull shy that have all been designed and built by one of the event organisers, Jonathan Servaes, who said, “We wanted something that adults, young people and children could do together that wasn’t going to cost them a fortune. I created these games that so far have proved popular. They’re fun to play, but also allow us to raise essential funds for next year’s event without being expensive”.

For those wanting to take part in something a little more competitive you needed to look no further than the extremely popular barrel and keg races. These pit only the toughest of pirates in head-to-head races, with the winners of each race claiming a bottle of rum sponsored by The

Knight Shop International.

Jay Gatling, who hosted the races, admitted: “The barrel and keg races are brutal, but they’re always a firm favourite with both competitors and spectators alike. In fact, we have people sign up to compete year on year. They’re completely mad, but everyone loves it. The races tap into something primal in all of us”.

The town’s pubs also get involved, with pirate stronghold, The Blue Bell, hosting the official unofficial start to the festival with the Wee Bag Band providing the entertainment. The Blue Bell was so popular this year that invading pirates proudly drank the place dry within 48 hours – an impressive feat never seen before at the event. This year also saw the return of International pirate superstar Tom Mason and the Blue Buccaneers, as well as the Port Sunlight Seadogs, who performed on both days of the festival.

The next Conwy Pirate Festival is planned to take place on 8-9 of June, 2024.

*Ship’s Scribe – more information can be obtained from www.conwypirates.com –and other main organisers of the event are Jonathan Servaes, Joy Servaes and Kim Edmunds, who are assisted by a crew of around 20 volunteers, whose dedication and hard work ensures the festival’s continued success.