A Welcome Invasion of Cedar Key
If you travel 1 hour and 35 minutes north on US 19 you will find a unique and quaint town full of history and lore called Cedar Key.
Recently Cedar Key was invaded by Hurricane Hermine and a week and a half later, overrun by pirates from all parts of Florida and Georgia.
Joe Catalano Owner and Operator at Bard Productions LLC, put the event together with the help of the pirate community. This is the fourth year the event entertained the enthusiastic swashbucklers and sea dogs.
Organizers were not sure if this year’s festival was going to move forward due to the hurricane. Filled with emotion, Catalano reached out to the pirate community for help and sure enough and without hesitation fellow crew members set their sails to Cedar Key.
“This year was just (an) amazing year,” Catalano said. “We got Cedar Key back up,” he stated.
With ships set anchor in the distant sea, they camped out on high ground and made the most of their land time. The festival began on Friday morning September 16th and ended at mid-day three days later.
Men and women dressed up in their finest pirate garb, set out to invade Cedar Key. They celebrated with old Irish songs, pirate and Celtic music as patrons witnessed an epic battle between The Saint Augustine Garrison (re-enactors from the 1740 Colonial Spanish Saint Augustine) and the pirates.
“The best thing (about this festival) is bringing business to the community,” John (Don Carlos Long Feather) Lock said. Lock is one of the founders of the festival as well serving five years as a true pirate.
Many enjoyed the interaction with the pirates. One such interaction was the Wanted Flyer. The flyer consisted of 12 pirates wanted for various offenses, which included smiling too much, taking 5 extra minutes on their 10 minute break and not cleaning their tent. Whatever their unduly crime was, the patrons had to seek them out and obtain their mark for a glorious prize.
Captain James Hawk (Anthony Noble) and Diego del Fuego (Diego Roberto Bermudez) “krewe” members of the Scarlett Fortuna, happened to be on the wanted flyer.
“Every year it’s become our big annual event. It’s something that we love pouring our hearts and soul into…,” Noble said. “This city has a good place in our heart.”
What’s important Bermudez explained is “…the friendship, the sense of community, a sense of belonging I think in this almost make-believe environment.”
If you missed this year’s event… no worries ye mateys.. They’ll be back for another invasion in 2017. Keep updated on all the news at http://cedarkeypiratefest.com/
If you are interested in checking out Cedar Key, next month they are having another big event: Cedar Key Seafood Festival October 15th and 16th 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It features more than 200 arts and crafts exhibits, live music at several locations, a parade Saturday morning and, of course, lots of great local seafood.
Links:
The Saint Augustine Garrison is a group of re-enactors who portray the life and times of the Spanish soldiers and their families in 1740s Colonial Spanish Saint Augustine. http://staugustinegarrison.com/
The Krewe of The Scarlett Fortuna is a Florida Non-Profit Organization designed to promote literature education for children through means of interactive events. http://www.thescarlettfortuna.org/