Harbour Grace issues swashbuckler alert
By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The swashbucklers and pioneering aviators of its past will be celebrated over the coming days as Harbour Grace holds its annual Pirates to Pilots festival which starts today and runs until July 27.
When it comes to its pirates, perhaps none is better known than Peter Easton. But Harbour Grace has seen and even produced many others. Pirate Sir Henry Mainwaring came to Harbour Grace after Easton around 1614. John Keating, who was born in Harbour Grace in 1808, became an internationally known pirate who found the lost Treasure of Lima. Captain Nick Fitzgerald, an associate of Keating and a fellow captain, was born in Riverhead.
When it comes to aviators, there is, of course, Amelia Earhart, who made the town famous as part of her exploits to be the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight. Others include Rear Admiral Sir Mark Kerr, pilot of the Handley Page Atlantic, who spent time in Harbour Grace as he raced against aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown in a contest to be the first to fly cross the Atlantic Ocean.
There was also famous WWI flying ace Ed Rickenbacker, who came to Harbour Grace with a crew to help repair the crashed plane Lady Peace. At the time, the plane Rickenbacker arrived in, a Douglas DC-2 called the Great Silver Fleet, was the largest to ever grace Harbour Grace’s airstrip.
There was also Harbour Grace-born Lamont Parsons, who flew his plane between the spires of the town’s Immaculate Conception Church.
The idea of the Pirates to Pilots Festival was first suggested in 2017. In 2019, the Harbour Grace Board of Culture, Innovation and Business was incorporated with a mandate to preserve and promote the town’s culture and heritage and attract tourism and economic development. Board member Jane Lynch said the Pirates to Pilots Festival is the perfect event for the town given its history. It enables businesses and volunteer groups to come together and celebrate.
In the past, the Harbour Grace Volunteer Fire Department held an event called the Pirate Landing. “It was such a fun filled family day the organizers wanted to try and recreate it,” said Lynch.
Changes in council and the COVID pandemic delayed the festival from coming to fruition, but the first was finally held during the summer of 2023. This year’s will be the second annual Pirates to Pilots Festival.
The festival includes the fourth annual Kite Festival on July 21 at the airfield. It will include facepainting, a preview of Best Kind Productions’ summer musical Frozen, and an appearance by Amelia Earhart. Another big event is the 162nd running of the Harbour Grace Regatta. Weather permitting, it will be held on July 27, the last day of the festival.
Amon the many other events, the organization Open Doors will offer opportunities for people to visit and admire some wonderful local collections, such as Steven Moores’ amazing dioramas, Judy Brockie’s rug hooking, and Frank Haire’s collection of artifacts and treasures discovered while metal detecting. Other events include a treasure hunt hosted by Easton’s 1602 Pub, a concert at the courthouse, and the annual truck pull hosted by the Harbour Grace Volunteer Fire Department in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The department’s Pirate Landing will be held at S.W. Moores Memorial Park and involve a shooting gallery, and opportunities to “walk the plank” and collect pirate treasure. The pirates at the event will even be firing a cannon.
Lynch said the festival encourages civic pride. Harbour Grace, she pointed out, was once touted as the second capital of Newfoundland, and has so much history to explore and celebrate.
“We have produced many famous academia, medical professionals, politicians, artistic personalities and the list goes on,” she said. “This is only the second year of hopefully an annual event that will only get bigger and better.”
Most events are free to attend, though attendees may have to purchase food and beverages.