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Cayman Celebrates 25 Yearsof Pirates Week
This is the year to celebrate the celebration.As hard as it might be to believe, Pirates Week National Festivalis 25 years old this October. Yes, the children that once ranaround the streets of George Town enjoying the Pirates Week fireworksand parade are now bringing their children to see the fireworksand parade.
Quarter of a century after it was startedto give a boost to Cayman's tourism industry during the off-season,Pirates Week is an ingrained event on Cayman's cultural calendar.The festival is now so popular that dates for some other eventsare determined by Pirates Week dates. A generation of youngstershas grown up looking forward to Pirates Week just as they lookforward to Christmas.
The 25th anniversary will be marked withincreased decorations in the downtown area and possibly increasedprizes for competitions. Of course the ever-popular fireworksdisplay on opening night will pay tribute to the 25 years of PiratesWeek. Just what the Pirates Week planners will come up with forthe 25 anniversary will depend on the amount of contributionsand sponsorships. While Government pays for day to day expensessuch office rental, the events of the festival are dependent oncorporate and individual financial support.
A new attraction this year for just abouteveryone is the Gilly's Mechanical Bull. You can test yourbull riding skills during the opening weekend. The Key West schoonerWolf is expected to once again invade Hog Sty Bay along withthe Jolly Roger.
While it is still seen as an event thatlures tourists to Cayman in seasonally quiet October, PiratesWeek has developed into much more over the past 25 years. PiratesWeek has won recognition as the national festival and is as muchor more for Caymanians as it is for tourism. From what was oftenseen as just an extended street party has developed a celebrationof Caymanian heritage and culture and a modern medium of self-expression.But the festival is still a good excuse to have a great time.
One story of the beginning of Pirates Weekhas it that the Hon. Jim Bodden, Cayman's charismatic leader ofthe 70's and early 80's was in Tampa, FL watching Gasparilla,the Tampa pirates festival, when he got the idea of having sucha festival in Cayman. Whether that is true or not remains debatable,but in any event "Mr.Jim" is the man credited with startingPirates Week in 1977.
At a news conference announcing the creationof "Pirate Week", Mr. Bodden gave his vision of whatit would be like. He said it would be part Trinidad carnival,part Mexican fiesta and part Haitian Mardi Gras. Besides beinga tourist attraction he said the other objective was to involveCaymanians in the tourism promotion drive. He told the House andthe press, "If the event is successful, we envision makingit an annual affair." It must have been successful by anymeasure to have lasted for 25 years.
The first Pirates Week Committee Chairmanwas Rudy Selzer. At that time he was referred to as the ProjectChairman. Colin Panton who had served as Deputy Chairman succeededMr. Selzer. Mr. Panton headed up the '78 and '79 festivals. CarolynPells who directed the festival in 1980 succeeded him. The longestserving Chairman was Mike Lockwood. Known for his role of "ChiefPirate" he served from 1982 until his death in 1997. Andso it was that the foundation was laid for a tourism-based festivalthat has become a Caymanian tradition. While those Trinidadian,Mexican and Haitian elements envision by Mr. Jim are still there,Mr. Jim would undoubtedly be proud to know that "Pirate Week"is now Pirates Week National Festival with increasingly uniquecharacteristics.
Pirates Week has not been without its controversy.There have been debates about the name and theme. There have alsobeen objections to the fact that people dance and drink in thestreet to the accompaniment of very load music. Regardless ofthe objections, to those who have grown up with Pirates Week ithas not only survived but evolved to mean a special time of yearwhen the people of Cayman enjoy themselves in a festival thatis of their own making.