With a new board in place and the province set to lift COVID restrictions Privateer Days is back on for 2022. The event held each year in Privateer Park along the Mersey River waterfront in Liverpool was cancelled the past two years due to COVID.
Newly elected president Ashley Whynot says the goal this year will be on keeping the event family friendly and historically focused. “Instead of doing a beer tent this year we’re actually going to keep it as a child-friendly entertainment tent because we have some local bars and pubs that we want to support as well and are very close to where our festivities are going to be,” said Whynot. She says many people have asked about bringing back the fairground rides but unfortunately organizers have been unable to secure a provider. “Children don’t so much pay attention to the historical side, which kind of a sin,” said Whynot. “But they love the pirates and they always love the rides and I wish we could’ve done that for them.”
Whynot says the organizers are aware how deeply the pandemic has impacted many of the people and businesses involved with Privateer Days. They have removed the entry fee to participate in the parade and will be lowering fees for vendors to set up at the event. “We’re not going to say, can you pay $700 to come, bring your food truck for the weekend because we know right now, that’s just not feasible,” said Whynot. “We’re trying to work with everybody and hopefully we meet everybody’s expectations.”
Whynot says Privateer Days relies on having 30 or so volunteers each day to operate the event. Anyone wishing to be involved can contact the board on the Privateer Days Facebook page. The event will run the weekend of June 24 through 26 which means Whynot, and the rest of the organizers have a lot to do in a short amount of time. “We only have four months to put this together so we’re going to do the best that we can in the time that we have.”
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