Ahoy, matey! As the good weather makes its way to the city, Pirate Fest is here to bring family fun to Mooney’s Bay on June 8.
Organized by Pirate Life Ottawa, Pirate Fest is a whole day full of all-ages events including sword fighting, face painting, and children’s theatre. Special events coordinator Jesse Kahat says there’s lots of activities us scallywags can expect for this one-day event.
Schedule of events for Pirate Fest 2024. Photo provided.
“We have the daytime, which is geared mostly towards families with small children, and then we have the evening, which is geared more towards adults and older teens,” she says.
Pirate Life Theatre is a children’s theatre company that creates pirate-themed shows for families in Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton. This is the first Pirate Fest in Ottawa, and Kahat says that she came up with the idea after working with Pirate Life Theatre as a pirate last year.
Photo provided.
“I just thought, wouldn’t it be fun if we could bring the community into our space and get them to share our love of children’s theatre,” she says.
She also says that their location in Mooney’s Bay makes for extremely accessible programming. With lots of foot traffic, and a pirate ship already docked, it’s not a difficult spot to miss.
Photo of pirate ship at Mooney’s Bay. Photo provided.
“We are right by the parking lot, so we’re very visible from Hog’s Back Road,” says Kahat. “Anybody that comes to see Hog’s Back Falls, or even just go to the park, there’s a playground maybe 100 metres away from where we are—it’s such a great area for children.”
Pirate Fest is a free event, and there will be 12 local Ottawa craft vendors as well as sword fighting demonstrations (don’t worry, they’re pool noodle swords) and regular shows running all day long.
Photo provided.
Their evening programming includes a campfire, a comedy, improv and variety shows, as well as a whole hour of sea shanty singing.
“Our Ottawa team is really awesome,” says Kahat. “We have all of the actors from last year returning, so it’s like a little family.”
Pirate Fest will take place all day long on June 8. Daytime programming runs from 9:30am-5pm, and evening programming runs from 5:30pm-8:30pm at 588 Hog’s Back Rd. next to Mooney’s Bay Park. This event is for all ages and admission is free. For more information, check out their website.
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