Part promenade, part static spectacle, we’ve transformed Coventry Canal Basin into a lively pirate harbour town full of strange and wonderful characters and stories. There’s even a stranded ship staging live music and aerial acrobatic spectacles. Get your best pirate outfits on, and come and join the fun.
Brought to you by Coventry’s EGO Performance Company, our professional cast of actors along with circus performers from NoFit State Circus will join a 60-strong community ensemble.
THE STORY
As soon as you arrive, follow your treasure map through the Pirate Harbour and be immersed into a bustling marketplace, where you can meet many wonderful, cheeky and barmy pirates.
As our musical pirates The Contraband delight you with their repertoire, a troupe of Merry Makers will entertain you with their daring acrobatics and astound you with their close-up magic. Raise a glass at The Sunken Chest, where you’ll meet a rowdy group of pirates telling tales of mutiny and derring-do upon the seven seas… which crew speaks the truth? Watch out! All disputes are settled by the sword.
Any aspiring little pirates can learn pirate basics in our Pirating for Beginners class, with Big Mouth Hap at The Pearls of Wisdom School for Proper Pirates.
Want to know what the future holds? Then Tompot Blenny is your man, with his mystical visions and his pirate predictions. If he can’t find the doom, he’ll look for the gloom – it’s a good job nobody believes a word he says!
You’ll meet Dr Zoran who has the answer to all your health and beauty requirements. With magical potions, healing powders and pungent poultices, he’ll have you fixed in no time. Whether you want to grow the thickest gnarliest pirate beard, revive your drunken parrot, or de-rust your hook, the Apothecary is your one stop shop.
But make sure you don’t end up in the dock at the Pirate Court Of No Appeal. The defence and the prosecution may state their case, but mean old Judge Blind Goby takes no prisoners (actually he does! usually straight to the plank!)
There is no doubt you’ll encounter Longbottom and Forsythe, they call themselves the ‘CRACK’ team – The Coventry Canal and Rivers Keepers – a title that’s been passed down through the generations, with Grandad and Grandson in hot pursuit of rowdy pirates and loitering audiences. They don’t take any nonsense and won’t stop at anything to enforce their ridiculous rules.
And if you want to know what happens on our beloved pirate ship The Lamont when the sun goes down, you best get your ticket now!