"Aaarrgh Mateys!!!!"
Blackbeard's crew coming to Holly Pt. Art & Seafood Festival

The last time members of Blackbeard's crew visited Middlesex County, they were the unwilling guests of Governor Spotswood and hung around in gibbets at the mouth of Urbanna creek in 1720. Take a trip back to the Golden Age of Piracy as The Holly Point Nature Park hosts Blackbeard's Crew during the 5th annual Holly Point Art & Seafood Festival, October 11th, 10 am to 4 pm at Deltaville Maritime Museum & Holly Point Nature Park.

Blackbeard's Crew is a living history group based out of Hampton Virginia that prides itself on portraying the accurate life and times of pirates and events along the East Coast and Chesapeake Bay in the early 18th century. The crew will be landing at their careening camp, suitable for all visitors, at 10:30 on the grounds of the Deltaville Maritime Museum to share the story of Blackbeard, the battle of Ocracoke, and present life as sailors of the early 1700's. Pirate crews of the era would often find a secluded and secure area to careen their ships for repairs, often where sympathetic merchants and town folks would turn a blind eye to the goings-on of their new guests and welcome their often hard-to-find captured goods. As these sailors without a nation would be forced ashore while their ship lay on its side, a small town would often emerge as local shop and tavern keepers, tinkers, tailors, fiddlers and the like flocked to the area to free pirates of their gold and cargo.

So join the Crew as we share skills of the sailors including navigation, marlinspike, surgery, carpentry, sing chanties, tell stories, demonstrate weaponry and cause general mayhem as we teach young scallywags to talk like a pirate, fire a musket, swing a cutlass, and learn sea songs in Piracy 101. To learn more about Blackbeard's Crew, visit their website at www.blackbeardscrew.org.

And don't forget, while all of this pirating is going on there will be over 60 artists displaying fine arts and crafts. The festival has become a showcase for Tidewater artists. Also, take time to explore the gardens of Holly Point and the Museum.