HAMPTON, Va. — The Blackbeard Pirate Festival is making its way back to Downtown Hampton this weekend!
The festival will feature Blackbeard and more than 200 authentically-costumed pirate re-enactors from June 2 to 4 in Downtown Hampton.
Many may not realize that Blackbeard's legacy is built around coastal Virginia and North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Hampton marks the final resting place of Blackbeard, where his decapitated head was put on a spike and displayed at the mouth of the Hampton River to discourage pirating in Virginia's waterways.
Every year, the city of Hampton holds the annual Blackbeard Pirate Festival, an homage to the region's pirating history. This year will be the 22nd.
The event is free and open to the public.
According to the City of Hampton, this year's Hampton Blackbeard Pirate Festival includes:
Pirate’s Parlay
Friday, June 2, 6 - 8 p.m.
Start hobnobbing with the Pirates on Friday night, June 2 at The Pirate’s Parlay in the encampment at Mill Point Park on Eaton Street from 6-8 p.m. in downtown Hampton. Wear your finest piratical attire for this free evening of dancing outdoors to the piratical sounds of Clan McCool, and hear tales of bounty hunting and folklore as you sit alongside pirates outside their temporary, humble camping quarters.
Blackbeard’s Pirate Encampment
Saturday, June 3, 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Sunday, June 4, 12 - 6 p.m.
Mill Point Park, 100 Eaton St, Hampton, VA and Downtown Hampton Waterfront
On Saturday, June 3 and Sunday, June 4, continue your Pirate Experience free of charge on the Downtown Hampton Waterfront. Explore Blackbeard’s Pirate Encampment in Mill Point Park with world-class living history interpreters teaching the skills of the sailor of the 1700s. Guests may even have the opportunity to learn how to use a cutlass, load a cannon, or sing a sea shanty. On Saturday, June 3, come attend Blackbeard’s Block Party held in the large lot along Eaton Street, with musical guest, Vinyl Headlights, performing from 7-10 p.m. Adult beverages will be available for purchase at the Block Party and during most festival hours. Make sure to stay around Saturday night for The Hampton Blackbeard Pirate Festival Fireworks Display at 9:00 p.m. over the Hampton River!
For more information on the event, click here.