People from all over Maine, New Brunswick, The USA and Canada are heading for Eastport for the 6th Annual Eastport Pirate Festival and Pirate Invasion of Lubec. This celebration of the areas thalassic heritage has become one of the marquee events of summer on the coast of Maine and Atlantic Canada. It all begins Labor Day Weekend in the USA with the Pirate Invasion of Lubec on Saturday, September 3rd and finishes with the spectacular Second Annual International (Pirate) Lobster Boat Race on Sunday, September 11th.

The Invasion of Lubec kicks off Pirate Week on Passamaquoddy Bay every year and happens the weekend before the actual Pirate Festival. The Invasion of Lubec this year happens Labor Day Weekend on Saturday, September 3rd. This has grown into a mini Pirate Festival offering a full day of activities of Pirate Mayhem with the entire community and visitors alike in full Pirate Costume. The colorful Eastport Pirates will arrive by air, land and sea at approximately 9:30AM for the official Invasion. Lubec will be ready and waiting with a full line up of activities, music, a parade, bed race, tug of war and incredible food. New this year will be flying pirates as part of the invasion as the swashbuckling brethren take to the air with flying machines strapped to their backs. For those that wish to Participate in the Invasion by Pirate Ship tickets are available from Eastport Windjammers at 853-2500 and Fundy Breeze Charters at 853-4660. Please call in advance to purchase and reserve your tickets because they sell out quickly.

Lubec will have a Pirate Parade at 10:00 AM, their own Pirate Bed Race at 10:30 AM with the winners representing Lubec in the Eastport Bed race the following week. There will be children's activities including a Bounce House and Super Water Slide. The waterfront will be filled with a Pirate Gladiator Joust, Dunk Tank and the second annual Lubec vs. Eastport Tug of War with the two towns strongest men and women participating. All of Lubec's restaurants and businesses will be hosting a day long Taste-of-Lubec with incredible food a brew available for all participants. There will be water taxi service between Eastport and Lubec for the Invasion and all weekend of the festival. For information call 207-853-2635.

The Eastport Pirate Festival has quickly grown into the largest pirate themed event in Northern New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Last year an estimated 10,000 pirates from the USA, Canada and beyond of all ages, both male and female participated in this fun filled family event. That number is expected to swell wi.00th the great weather forecast and the addition of the first Pirate Festival Fireworks Spectacular on Saturday evening, September 10th at 7:30 PM.

Most of the events are free and friendly on a family budget. The backdrop for the festivities is the beautiful island city of Eastport (population 1401). A Pirates Ball, Pirates Parade, Pirates Bed Race with $1000 in prize money, Pirate Ship Parade, Pirate Pet Pageant, Pirates Lobster Boat Race, Crowning of the King and Queen, Free music and entertainment, Kid's Pirates Breakfast and day long events, Cutlass and Canon Demonstrations, great food and vendors, and buskers at every corner are just a small part of the 75+ events and offerings that happen all weekend. Everyone including pets are encouraged to dress and speak like a pirate.

Headlining this year's Eastport Pirate Festival is New England's one and only Half-Moon Jug Band. The Half Moon Jug Band (HMJB) is a four-man musical mob of desperadoes hijacking the plodding freight train of folk music, steaming it up the mountains of rock ‘n roll, through the vaudeville pass, and down across the valley of country music before wrecking it in the middle of a rubber chicken farm on the outskirts of town. Their weapons of choice: guitars, banjos, mandolins, hefty bass riffs and rotund sing-along choruses. But they’re no bluegrass band; they also wield mighty kazoos, trumpets, harmonicas and thumping drums.

Back this year will be the Second International (Pirate) Lobster Boat Race on Sunday, September 11, the last day of the festival. The race is open to fishermen from both the USA and Canada with a grand prize lottery of $1000.00 that every entry has a shot at just by entering. There will also be a $1000 prize for "Fastest Boat In The World Category that will be decided in the grand finale USA vs. Canada Race. On hand to charge up the excitement will be Galen Alley of Jonesport and his Lobster Boat that goes over 70 MPH. Galen will be challenging other boats in a special exhibition race with a $500 prize. There is a local race of Eastport Vs. Lubec with a $500.00 prize and for the Canadian Boats a $500.00 prize for the Deer Island Vs. Campobello Race. Members of the Maine Marine Trades Industry have also donated numerous prizes for this day of events and winners. Lobster Boat Racing started in the early 1900's in Maine and there are now 10 sanctioned races in as many towns along the Coast of Maine. Lobster Boat Racing is big on the coast of Maine with all of the races drawing thousands of spectators by land and sea. The Eastport Pirate Festival Lobster Boat Race will not be sanctioned as part of the Maine circuit this year, but could be in the future.

"A day at the lobster boat races on the Coast of Maine is a pure adrenalin rush for the contestants and those cheering them on," says Pirate Festival creator and founder John Miller. Whether you’re drawn to the races as a serious competitor, or just to watch from the shore and cheer on your favorite Fisherman... this is a pure and uniquely Maine and The Maritimes event that you will never see in the rest of the world. A day at the Pirate Lobster Boat Races will kick your Maine or New Brunswick Blood into high gear ... even if your from Oklahoma."

Every year the Pirates of the Dark Rose, a professional Pirate performance group brings the Pirate Theme to life in the streets of this historic seaport. From stage performances, cutlass and canon demonstrations to the firing of black powder with lots of boom-boom these incredible performers are in full character all weekend to keep you entertained and in the mood. The downtown performance stages at Overlook Park and the Pirate Encampment in Bank Square will be alive non-stop all three days with live music, buskers, dancers, fiddlers and performances by Stage East that will provide visitors with lots of free entertainment. It is time once again to get your Pirate on at the Eastport Pirate Festival 2010.

Saturday morning September 10th is geared towards Pirate Kids with Bloodthirsty's Tavern hosting a Kid's Buffet Breakfast at the Blue Iris Restaurant ( $4.50 for kids) kicking off the day. There will be a Pirate Kid's Schooner ride on the Tall ship Ada Dore (tickets are $15.00 reservations 853-2500), Kids and Youth Pirate Pageant with numerous Kids games.

The Thieves Market with great bargains will be offered all weekend at participating "Pirate Friendly" merchants. The streets will also have a great variety of food, crafts and treasure vendors. The local restaurants, bars and other businesses will have Pirate themed specials and events all weekend long... from morning until late at night.

The Eastport Pirate Bed Race is still recruiting teams. Rules and registration forms can be found on the Pirate Festival Website. Last year bed race teams from both the USA and Canada competed. This fast paced event always attracts thousand of spectators. The winning bed will walk away with $500.00. The Pirate Parade is open to everyone with a pirate themed entry and the Pirates Ball at the Chowder House on Friday evening is truly the social event of the season on Passamaquoddy Bay with hundreds of people in full costume. The crowning of the King and Queen of the Pirates is always great fun. Saturday evening offers up one of the most spectacular fireworks displays ever presented in Downeast Maine courtesy of Marlow Yachts and David Marlow. At least a dozen pirate themed events at all of the restaurants, pubs, bars and eateries around the tiny port city of Eastport will unfold into the wee hours.

"After five short years the word is out throughout all of Christendom that the Eastport Pirate Festival is the place to be the second weekend in September," says Festival Chairman Ross Furman. " I was in Florida this winter and people there were talking about coming to Eastport for the Pirate Festival. They were planning on coming for the Pirate Invasion of Lubec and Salmon Sunday the week before (Labor Day Weekend) and staying all week for the Pirate Festival. These events are certainly great fun and a real boost for our local economy before the long winter sets in. If you are going to be on Planet Earth between September 3rd and 11th - Eastport and Lubec are the top spots to be."

The Ferry Service that connects New Brunswick and Maine will be running from Deer Island Point to Eastport for the Pirate Festival September 9-11 and for the Invasion of Lubec to Campobello from Deer Island on September 3 - a great way for our relatives, neighbors and friends from New Brunswick to participate.

"Not only is this event attended by thousands of people of all ages, it also enjoys the support of several dozen dedicated volunteers that work year round and almost 200 businesses and individuals from as far away as Florida, California, England and Fiji that contribute generously making it possible for over 95% of the events to be free for everyone," says organizer and treasurer Christopher Wadsworth Brown. " Our Gold Sponsors this year are Calais Computer Plus, Husson University - The Boat School, Marlow Yachts, May's Funeral Home, Allen's Coffee Brandy, Moose Island Marine, Eastport Port Authority, Rossport Farms, Keithe & Chick Moore and Rossport Farms."

The Eastport Pirate Festival kicks into high gear on Friday afternoon, September 9th on the island city's historic waterfront and maintains pure pirate energy for 3 full days in this way Downeast Seaport . Real Pirates sailed the waters around this historic island that was once captured and occupied by the British during the War of 1812. History on the island that is home to Eastport is thick as mud. It is one of only three Cities in American history captured an occupied by a foreign power. Just off its shores is President Franklin Roosevelt's beloved home at Campobello. The little shops on Water Street are the same places Eleanor Roosevelt shopped for groceries, shoes and ice cream for her children asking the proprietors' to "send the bill to the White House." The family of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow still operates the nation's oldest ship's chandlery on the waterfront dating back to almost the 1700's where real pirates once bought provisions, sails, rope and grog. It is on these waters where French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed four centuries ago and the summering Roosevelt's sailed three centuries later. The first European settlement on St. Croix Island that predates Jamestown, Virginia is a short boat ride up the river. The noble Passamaquoddy People have called this area home for as many as 20,000 years. The word's most famous mustard (Raye's) is produced here and it is not uncommon to see the faces of the world's most famous movie stars, celebrities, royalty and politicians quietly blending in with the locals. Everyone here waves - even to strangers. They look you in the eye when they pass by and always say hello.

On Moose Island, home of this historic tiny seaport city of Eastport, Maine everyone makes you feel welcome. Not to worry, a causeway system was built 73 years ago that allows for easy driving to the island. You may arrive as a stranger - but you will depart as a dear friend.

For those wishing to obtain vendor information, Lobster Boat Race info, Bed Race info, The Invasion of Lubec Schedule or for complete information and schedsule of events of the 2011 Eastport Pirate Festival visit their Website at www.eastportpiratefestival.com call Chris Brown at 207-853-4343 or John Miller at 1-800-691-8182.