If you see a roving band of pirates at Harry Bridges Memorial Park this weekend, don’t fret. The city isn’t being pillaged—Long Beach’s largest pirate festival is returning after a years-long pandemic hiatus.
This Saturday and Sunday, pirates will roam the seaside park for Pirate Invasion Long Beach, the city’s largest pirate festival, complete with mermaids, sword fighting, a pirate ship, music and more right next to the Queen Mary.
The event was first held 15 years ago by Fred Khammar, who owned concession stands at the beach and wanted to bring families to Long Beach’s shoreline.
“My dad loves Long Beach. Years ago, the beach was just dead. There wasn’t a lot going on there,” said Jesel Ortloff, owner of Alfredo’s Beach Club and Khammar’s daughter.
According to Ortloff, at the time, Long Beach’s shoreline was often overlooked for the beaches in Huntington and Seal Beach.
“Not many people were hanging out on our beach,” Ortloff said. “He just envisioned families down there enjoying family-friendly events.”
Thus, the Pirate Invasion Long Beach was formed—a two-day event that brought pirates, music, food and families down the beach. The event was originally held at Long Beach Pier but eventually moved to Shoreline Aquatic Park in 2017 due to its growing popularity.
This will be the first year that the event will take place at the Harry Bridges Memorial Park. It’s also the first year that residents will have to pay to enter—$10 per day for adults, $5 per day for children 5 years and older—which Ortloff credits to rising production costs.
This year’s event will feature a pirate ship and full-on pirate battles with muskets, cannons, swords and pistols twice a day. A school of mermaids will hang out in the cove for photo opportunities, and by night the park will light up with fire dancers.
“There is not a moment at the event that some form of entertainment is not happening,” said Ortloff. “There’s truly nothing else like it.”
The all-ages event will feature performances of hard rock, sea shanties and folk music on a revolving stage, as well as face painting, inflatables and pirate goodies for kids.
Attendees are encouraged to dress up, as there will be a kids costume contest on Saturday and an adults costume contest on Sunday. Those who buy VIP (Very Important Pirate) tickets ($75) will have the chance to meet pirates that participated in Pirates of the Caribbean movies and lounge in the waterfront VIP area.
Pirate Invasion Long Beach will take place on Saturday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, July 31 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 1126 Queens Hwy. Attendees are encouraged to purchase their tickets beforehand online. For more information, visit pirateinvasionlongbeach.com.
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