Pirates Plunder Island!
Key West, FL -"Pirates in Paradise is FABULOUS! They have lots of booths with great food, and seminars, and the galleries put on super shows, and there's games and... and they do boat rides with pirates taking over!" bubbled Marjorie Shook, longtime Key West resident, diva, and general manager of Key TV, when asked about the festival.
And she's right. When Key West sets out to celebrate its maritime history, it does so in pure Conch fashion... beyond the parades, arts & crafts, and food vendors, there will be artist's and writer's workshops and seminars, museum exhibits, theatre premieres, and free public lectures.
Key West loves a party - anyone who survived last month's Fantasy Fest knows that! What isn't so obvious, at first glance, is the love affair the island has with literature, art, and performance. Tiny Key West has half a dozen theatres, dozens of art galleries, and has been the inspiration and the setting of many a novel.
Mix this artistic streak with a wild seafaring history, and you've got a festival that's by turns rowdy and urbane.
It starts off with the Poolside Thankstakin' Party on Thanksgiving Day at the Sheraton Key West Resort, and is followed by the Walk the Plank Pirates' Party and Pig Roast on Friday, at the Grand Key Resort.
Saturday the party moves into Old Town, and takes a decidedly different twist. The Southernmost Swashbuckler Scavenger Hunt sets sail from the Holiday Inn La Concha and spreads throughout the island.
The Mel Fisher Museum hosts Living History Pirate Encampments featuring Black Powder demonstrations - a perfect opportunity for landlubbers and city-slickers to learn of the rigors and dangers of life in less than civilized times.
"We have a big children's day, which includes our own pirate, "Capt. Holly," Madeleine Burnside, Executive Director of the Mel Fisher Museum told us. "He's sort of a piranical Santa Claus. Since Santa can't always get all the way down here to get kid's Christmas lists, he sends Capt. Holly to get them."
In case you're not familiar with the Museum, here's a bit of background. The founder, Mel Fisher, is the man who, through years of meticulous research and dangerous dives, discovered the Atocha, a Spanish galleon carrying unbelievable amounts of silver, gold and other precious treasure that was lost to a hurricane in 1622.
Today the Museum houses many of the stunning finds from the Atocha and her sister ships, as well as a wide collection of items from the Age of Discovery, roughly the late fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries.
"We feature the treasure the pirates were after," Ms. Burnside said. "Silver bars, coins. This shows some of their motivation, to get these things. Our ships were heavily armed to fight them, and so we have cannons, swords, and guns, too."
From there head over to the San Carolos Institute.
"This is our first year, but I've lived here my whole life. A lot of people will come visit the festival, it should be a full house," says Bill Collins, General Manager of the San Carlos Institute. Which is good news for the Institute, as they're hosting the U.S. premiere performance of "Dramatic Portraits from the Golden Age of Sail" on Saturday night.
The Holiday Inn Beachside is planning a Buccaneer Brunch for Sunday morning, and the Radisson Hotel's Splash Bar has a Swashbuckler Film Fest in the works.
Throughout the last week of November and the beginning of December Key West's streets will become a pirate's stronghold, as over 150 historic re-enactors, musicians and stuntmen re-create the aura of danger and excitement in a pirate's den.
The Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House will feature an exhibit of artwork by Don Maitz. Many have seen Mr. Maitz's work - that's his artwork on the label of Capt. Morgan's Spiced Rum! He's also the artist responsible for this year's Festival program.
Wyland Galleries has an exhibit of the works of master ocean artist William DeShazo, while the Mel Fisher Museum will have its ongoing treasure and shipwreck exhibits. These are REAL gold and silver treasures from Spanish fleets, the very fleets that Key West's pirates were after.
Banana Bay Resort is hosting a series of Artists' Retreats with David Harrison Wright, November 26-30th, and there will be a "Pyrate Tryal" of Anne Bonny and Mary Read at the historic Old City Hall on November 28th.
Throughout the festival, the Key West Tall Ships and their compliment of pirates will attack Fort Zachary Taylor, and any unsuspecting ships in the harbor! That's right, sailing ships manned by fearsome pirates marauding through Key West harbor, just as in the days of yore...
On November 30 the Tall Ship Battle and Pillage & Plunder Invasion takes place, and everyone - pirate or not - is invited to join the pirates at sea.
Those without the stomach for such sea-borne adventure can stay ashore and join the Pirate Pub Stroll through Old Town and the Seaport. Then everyone meets up at Schooner Wharf's Pillage & Plunder Victory Party.
Saturday, December 1st and Sunday, December 2nd, the Pirate Fest and Village Market will be encamped at Key West's Historic Seaport. Bring the kids to this one, there'll be pirate camps and fights, wandering minstrels, plenty of good vittles and a bit of grog.
There's another Treasure Hunt on Sunday along
the Harborwalk, starting at the Conch Republic Seafood Co. The Annual
Holiday Parade is Sunday as well, and then it's time for the farewell Turtle
Kraal's
Scurvy Crew Party, a raucous close to an amazing festival! 
