A float from the Mersey Rose Theatre Company promoting the youth musical Alice in Wonderland, Jr., was one of the top floats in the Privateer Days parade on Saturday. (Rick Conrad)
Hundreds of people from around Nova Scotia lined the streets of downtown Liverpool on Saturday for the Privateer Days Parade.
It was part of the 39th annual Privateer Days celebration which began Friday.
The two-day festival featured the parade as well as a food and vendor market, amusement park rides and lots of other activities around town.
Float winners were:
1st place: Funky Witches of the Mist
2nd place: Mersey Rose Theatre Company
3rd place: Mersey Seafoods
Listen below for some of the sounds and reaction from the parade on Saturday
Min Smale is the chairwoman of the Privateer Days organizing committee. This year’s event is scheduled for June 28 and 29 in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
The organizers of this year’s Privateer Days festival in Liverpool are promising a bigger and better celebration even as they cope with less funding and fewer volunteers.
Entering its 39th year, Privateer Days has become the biggest event of the year in Liverpool, drawing thousands to the downtown.
Min Smale, who chairs the Privateer Days committee, says that because of the funding challenges, organizers decided this year to turn the traditionally three-day event into a two-day affair on June 28 and 29.
“I think this year is actually going to be even better than last year and we’re working with a third of the money,” she said in an interview.
“We’d rather condense the days down and go big than spread it over three and not be able to do as much, so it’s go big or go home. … Just trying to make it still historical, but family oriented and community supported.”
Privateer Days is a mix of the modern and historical, as it marks Liverpool’s history of privateering dating back to 1775. Privateers were private citizens sanctioned by the Crown to attack enemy ships and confiscate their property. The spoils were shared between the conquering crews and the Crown. Privateers were not pirates, and they were highly respected in the community.
Privateer Days features a parade through town, entertainment, craft vendors and food trucks on the waterfront, an historic encampment re-enactment in Fort Point Lighthouse Park, and a traditional colonial wedding.
Privateer Days features historical re-enactments, live entertainment, carnival rides and much more. (Chris LaRocque Photography via Privateer Days)
This year will also have carnival rides for kids and carnival games, inflatable entertainment from Yarmouth Big Bounce Rentals and a street dance on Friday night on Henry Hensey Drive near the waterfront, sponsored by Mersey Seafoods.
This is Smale’s third year on the organizing committee. She says it’s been a struggle since Covid to find people to help with the event.
And board turnover has also affected their ability to look for funding. But she says the new board members are excited for this year’s event and committed to working on Privateer Days into the future.
“Over these last years, the turnout has increased. We’re looking forward to having the encampment back and doing the colonial wedding again and just trying to see with fresh faces, fresh minds, fresh ideas what new things we can bring to the table to make this year different and stand apart.”
She says that Privateer Days isn’t alone in struggling to find volunteers.
“In talking with other not-for-profit and charitable organization in south Queens, it’s not just Privateer Days that’s having issues with finding volunteers. It’s everybody. You kind of find the same people showing up in multiple boards. And we’re all just trying to do what we can.”
Smale said they’re also trying to engage more local businesses and encourage the thousands who attend Privateer Days to visit more businesses on Liverpool’s Main Street.
“Making sure that we’re adequately supporting those businesses and making sure that once the traffic in the park has died down for the day that we’re diverting them into the community so that we’re working hand in hand in supporting Liverpool thrive.”
The organizing committee is teaming up with Rafflebox and with local businesses for various fundraisers leading up to Privateer Days. Hell Bay Brewing is holding one on Saturday night featuring local musicians. They’ll be holding a 50/50 draw and donating $1 from each beer toward Privateer Days.
Smale says she’s learned a lot over the past three years about how important Privateer Days is to the community.
“In terms of South Shore events, people look forward to the Big Ex, people look forward to Privateer Days. It’s the end of the summer, it’s the end of the school year, it’s that kind of pivotal point of the start of summer in Liverpool.”
The 2023 edition of Liverpool’s Privateer Days will have a noticeably family feel compared to previous years.
Visitors will still find an historic encampment, a spooky graveyard tour, and the Kings Orange Rangers performing an historical re-enactment.
The shift began last year when organizers decided to replace the waterfront beer gardens with an all-ages entertainment tent.
The Privateer Days committee didn’t want to compete with local businesses already offering beverage service.
Anyone making their way to the waterfront tent can enjoy local entertainers all weekend, an open mic Friday evening, a magician and face painting for the kids.
Treasurer of the Privateer Days organizing committee Min Thiele says along with the requisite pirates and period costumes, people will still find their favourite parts of the weekend.
The event begins Friday evening with the festival closing part of Main Street.
“We’re going to have live music with the Merchants Market downtown, shutting it down,” said Thiele. “Hopefully coordinating with Dixie Lee to have a French Fry eating contest for the kids, some fire spinners, which is a new addition as well, and then just kind of leading off into the evening.”
Last year Thiele and her husband marched in the parade ahead of being married in the official colonial wedding service.
Organizers tried but couldn’t find another couple to tie the knot in the service this year but may have a couple willing to renew their vows.
The wedding is an example of the melding of history and community in the annual event.
Another is the selection of a Parade Marshall.
Organizers are looking for someone who exemplifies Queens County to lead the floats through town on Saturday June 24.
The list of potential names includes Special Olympians, former doctors, businesspeople, and community activists and continues to grow.
Submissions are being accepted until June 11 and the Marshall will be announced June 12.
The carnival rides were unavailable this year, but Thiele says the inflatables coming in from Halifax Inflatables and Yarmouth Big Bounce will attract attention from young and old alike.
“I would love to get into an inflatable hamster ball in a pool and go one on one with somebody else. There’s going to be a lot of things. I don’t think they’re just going to be for kids.”
Thiele says the event will be bigger than last year and organizers are still looking for volunteers willing to staff the visitor information booth and help tend to the barricades for the parade.
The people behind Liverpool’s Privateer Days are reaching out for public support.
The annual June event routinely attracts thousands of visitors to the Liverpool area as it celebrates the former town’s history with a parade, rides, food, music and more.
The organization usually receives a federal Heritage grant each year to cover most of their costs.
Privateer Days Treasurer Min Theile says due to changes in deadlines during COVID they missed their opportunity to apply this year.
“It’s a big undertaking and typically, when we do get the Heritage grant it’s about $40,000 to put on,” said Theile. “We try to keep it as cost efficient, if cost zero for our participants just to make sure we can bring tourism to Queens County.”
Organizers needed to get creative and began reaching out to local businesses and organizing fundraising events.
Theile says business owners have been generous providing financial support and donations.
Over $1,000 has been raised between a dance held in April and a raffle prize of one of three flights offered by members of the South Shore Flying Club.
Local businesses have been donating items towards an online auction as well, but Theile says that won’t go live until the Liverpool Regional High School Scholarship auction is complete in June.
The Privateers Day organizers are looking for volunteer to assist with the parade and their visitor information booth over the event being held June 23 -25.
Anyone wishing to offer their time can find information on the Privateer Days Facebook page or by e-mailing privateer.vice.chair@gmail.com.
The first Privateer Days to be held in Liverpool since the start of the pandemic is barely in the books and already organizers are looking ahead to next year.
Chair of the Privateer Days commission Ashley Whynot wants feedback from the public to learn what they can do better.
“Any input, feedback, constructive criticism, we’re looking for all of that. We need to know because we’re not putting this on for us, we’re putting this on for everyone else,” said Whynot. “It doesn’t matter what I want personally, it’s what we can make happen for everyone.”
For example, Whynot says they’ve already noted the need for more first-aid stations and better locations for some of the washroom facilities.
She says one of the successes for this year’s festival was the shift towards family-focused activities.
Organizers decided to do away with the waterfront beer tent to provide a place for young people to gather in the evening and to nudge adults into local licensed establishments.
Instead, the entertainment tent featured live music all day and was turned over in the evening for a teen dance hosted by the Liverpool Junior Firefighters.
“And there were kids in there screaming and laughing and doing cartwheels and running around outside in the field. They were having such a good time and I have never seen children stay out, during Privateer Days, that late,” said Whynot.
Privateer Days crowd. Photo Ed Halverson
Looking ahead she says the commission will take a few days to catch their breath but plan on being more active and present in the community throughout the year.
“We would also look to do a few little fundraisers to kind of, keep our name out there, keep the community engaged with us, bring in some more funds to see what other new and exciting vendors or entertainment or what-have-you we can bring in next year,” said Whynot. “And we’re always looking for more volunteers.”
Anyone wishing to get involved with Privateer Days can contact Whynot or the commission through their Facebook page.
Liverpool’s unofficial kick off to summer is back.
Privateer Days returns Friday after COVID restrictions cancelled the event for the past two years.
People can look forward to the return of many regular features such as the Privateer Day parade and historic encampment on Saturday, guided historic walking tours as well as activities and music all weekend at Privateer Park.
Many of the Privateer Days board members are new this year having only been elected to their positions at their annual general meeting in February.
That gave the group just four months to plan an event that would normally take all year.
Board chair Ashley Whynot says the mix of new and returning board members has been vital to getting Privateer Days up and running.
“This was all new. I’m used to planning birthday parties and very, very small events, so this is way out of my comfort zone,” said Whynot.
Despite having to quickly learn what permitting, licensing and insurance was needed to host an event the scale of Privateer Days, Whynot says the planning wasn’t that stressful.
“This isn’t a brand-new event so we always have previous years that we can look back on and be like, okay, what worked and what didn’t, look at the lineup, keep the traditional aspects like the parade and the rum run and the wedding. Those always had specific start times, so we kept those in mind,” said Whynot. “All the new things we kind of just filled in the blanks as we went.”
One of the big changes this year is the focus on providing a family friendly environment.
The beer tent was done away with in favour of organizing a pub crawl and encouraging people to visit the local drinking establishments.
Attendees will see family focused entertainment such as circus performers, a kid’s fishing derby, and a teddy bear picnic.
Whynot says the board is not only looking for new ideas but is always happy to see new people get involved with Privateer Days.
“We are looking to bring back as much tradition as possible, like the wedding for instance, and we’re looking to keep traditions going like the rum run and the parade. But we are looking to modernize it as well. There’s a lot of virtual reality things going on for the children and interactive things. We are always looking for new board members and fresh minds, fresh ideas, and lots of volunteers for that weekend in general.”
Kids can kick off the 2022 edition of Privateer Days at the Thomas Raddall Library Friday morning with pirate themed stories and crafts.
Adults can join the fun Friday night at one of several musical performances at the Legion, Route 3 Cellar Taproom and Grill and Hell Bay Brewing Company.
Events get underway at Privateer Park beginning at 9:00am Saturday.
With a new board in place and the province set to lift COVID restrictions Privateer Days is back on for 2022.
The event held each year in Privateer Park along the Mersey River waterfront in Liverpool was cancelled the past two years due to COVID.
Newly elected president Ashley Whynot says the goal this year will be on keeping the event family friendly and historically focused.
“Instead of doing a beer tent this year we’re actually going to keep it as a child-friendly entertainment tent because we have some local bars and pubs that we want to support as well and are very close to where our festivities are going to be,” said Whynot.
She says many people have asked about bringing back the fairground rides but unfortunately organizers have been unable to secure a provider.
“Children don’t so much pay attention to the historical side, which kind of a sin,” said Whynot. “But they love the pirates and they always love the rides and I wish we could’ve done that for them.”
Whynot says the organizers are aware how deeply the pandemic has impacted many of the people and businesses involved with Privateer Days.
They have removed the entry fee to participate in the parade and will be lowering fees for vendors to set up at the event.
“We’re not going to say, can you pay $700 to come, bring your food truck for the weekend because we know right now, that’s just not feasible,” said Whynot. “We’re trying to work with everybody and hopefully we meet everybody’s expectations.”
Whynot says Privateer Days relies on having 30 or so volunteers each day to operate the event.
Anyone wishing to be involved can contact the board on the Privateer Days Facebook page.
The event will run the weekend of June 24 through 26 which means Whynot, and the rest of the organizers have a lot to do in a short amount of time.
“We only have four months to put this together so we’re going to do the best that we can in the time that we have.”
A road sign announces Privateer Days in Liverpool in 2014. Photo Ed Halverson
Residents of Liverpool can breathe a collective sigh of relief as Privateer Days is not being disbanded.
Rumours swirled about the demise of the festival after the organizers posted on Facebook asking for volunteers to step forward and replace most of the board.
Privateer Days board chair Terrena Parnell says the event isn’t shutting down, but several board members, including herself are moving on.
“I’ve always believed that if you can’t give 100 percent then don’t do it. At this point, I have other things on the go that I’m not able to give 100 percent and I just feel it would be better in someone else’s hands,” said Parnell.
The Privateer Days board is looking for people to fill the senior roles of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer as well as Directors of Grants & Funding, Music, PR/Media Relations and Vendors.
Like every other festival in the province, the board has been unable to host Privateer Days for the past two years due to COVID restrictions.
Parnell is confident once the positions are filled at their annual general meeting in February the new board will have enough time to settle into their roles and put on the event at the end of June.
“We’ve pretty much got everything in place for them,” said Parnell. “It’s just a matter of moving forward with it and making any changes they feel they want to make or any additions and go from there.”
Parnell says the board was working to make Privateer Days a more family-oriented event, by bringing back fairground rides and revamping how entertainment was to be presented.
“We have three local drinking establishments directly across the parking lot from where Privateer Days is being held. So instead of having the entertainment tent as a “beer tent”, it would’ve gone back to an entertainment tent, and we would’ve supported our local establishments across the road to bring in some business to them as well and to really make it more of a community event,” said Parnell.
It will be up to the new board members to decide if they will follow through on that vision.
Due to current COVID restrictions the Privateer Days annual general meeting will be held virtually over Zoom at 7:30pm of February 24.
Anyone wishing to attend or put themselves forward for one of the vacant positions should contact the Privateer Days board through their website or Facebook page to receive the log on information.
Privateer Days has been called off again this summer.
The annual event, normally held near the last weekend in June, once again fell victim to the effects of the coronavirus.
Privateer Days Commission chair Terrena Parnell says the organizers are heartbroken to cancel the event, but they had to put public safety first.
“We have thousands of people coming to Privateer Days every year and there’s absolutely no way that we can have people in there volunteering, chasing people around saying, wear your masks, social distance, that type of thing. It’s just impossible to try to deal with something on that large of a scale,” said Parnell.
Like almost every other festival in 2020, Privateer Days was cancelled last year because of the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Parnell says many of the performers and suppliers scheduled to be part of last year’s event were waiting for the phone call to go ahead with this year’s event.
The commission has been keeping a close eye on the restrictions and the way the vaccine is rolling out across Nova Scotia and didn’t see how enough would change to allow the event to go ahead this year.
Parnell said, “We don’t think things are going to go back to normal for a while yet, and just felt that it was best for everyone involved, both spectators and the participants, to cancel early instead of waiting until the last minute and saying, oh, no, we’re not going to have it and have to turn everyone away.”
Parnell is aware some people think the event was cancelled too early but points out the logistics involved in mounting a festival of this size require time.
She says suppliers need to line up equipment and transportation to and from Liverpool. Uncertainty around border crossing rules between provinces could mean some suppliers, such as New Brunswick-based East Coast Amusement Rides may not be able to cross into Nova Scotia.
“With the restrictions and the bans in place, you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” said Parnell. “It may seem like we cancelled early, but it’s only six months away and those six months can go very quickly.”
Parnell says as the organization looks ahead to 2022 they are in a stable financial position. The commission is constantly looking for new sources of revenue, such as grants to fund the event.
But for next year, she would like to see locals dig in and show what the event means to them.
“I’m hoping that with everything being closed down for two years, that next year we’ll have the community and the business support when we do start our fundraising again to help us make a larger event a reality.”
