Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Photo by Joshin Yamada

If the infamous swashbuckler Black Bart were around today, he might change his motto (“A merry life and a short one”) just to be sure he’d get the chance to storm the seventh annual Portland Pirate Festival, which takes place Sept. 1-2, in historic St. Helens. An annual gathering of scallywags and sea-loving curs, this celebration of pirate culture is one of the largest in the world, with hundreds of marauders laying siege to the quaint Oregon town every year.

Of course, there’s plenty of grog available at the event — there’d be mutiny without it! — with Kraken Rum pouring and Oberon’s Three-Penny Tavern traveling setting up shop with wenches and belly dancers authenticating the party. But as bawdy as these buccaneers can get, the festival is all-ages fun, with sword fights, cannon shows, re-enactments and scheduled performances for kids in Scupper Monkey Island. Bandits under 2 years old (and all parrots) get in for free.

Photo courtesy of the Portland Rose Festival

Like many others, when I first moved here, I noticed bumper stickers all around town printed with the words, “Eat a Lime.” Curious, but writing it off as one of those quirky “Keep Portland Weird” things, I didn’t think much about it. It turns out that this is the slogan for local “pirate rock” band Captain Bogg & Salty. They perform family-friendly music in full pirate regalia.

You can channel your inner buccaneer anytime in Portland at Captain Henry’s Pirate Store inside Lloyd Center mall, and later this summer at the family-friendly Portland Pirate Festival. Held each year over Labor Day weekend, this year the festival moves to St. Helens, a riverside town on the Columbia. (more…)