John Levique Pirate Days at John?s Pass Village

MADEIRA BEACH/TREASURE ISLAND, FL--- The 10th Annual John Levique Pirate Days will celebrate a decade of decadence and the discovery of John-s Pass while preparing its residents for hurricane season on May13, 14 & 15, 2011. The event celebrates Leveque-s discovery of the John-s Pass waterway following the Great Gale of 1848 and prepares its residents for hurricane season, while fund-raising for The Florida Fisherman Lost at Sea Memorial Fund. The John-s Pass Village Association will host a variety of events throughout the weekend including a Pirate-s Ball, pirate sea battle and boat parade, a walking parade, a family treasure hunt, adults and children-s costume contests, a pub crawl and more. The event will also include various pirate themed merchandise, food and beverage vendors, along with an abundance of authentic performers. Free parking is available at Madeira Beach Fundamental School, with a free shuttle to John-s Pass sponsored by Jimmie-s Free Local Rides. Although admission to the event is free, there will be a suggested donation of a buck-an-ear to help defray the cost of the event. A portion of the event-s proceeds will be donated to the Florida Fisherman Lost at Sea Memorial Fund. The Tenth Annual Pirates Ball will take place at The Hut in John-s Pass, on Friday May 13th, from 7 pm to 11pm. This adult only adventure & fundraiser, will feature Piratatical entertainment with Sea Shanties and nautical tunes provided by The Brigands. The adults costume contest will be judged at 10 pm, with the winners receiving prizes valued at thousands of dollars donated by area merchants. Scores of fabulous gifts have been collected for the silent auction which opens at 7 pm and closes at 10:30 pm. Proceeds from the silent auction will benefit the Florida Fisherman Lost at Sea Memorial Fund, a non-profit organization whose goal is to build a proper memorial to honor the hundreds of courageous souls that have vanished at sea. For more information on The Florida Fisherman Lost at Sea Memorial Fund, please visit www.floridafishermenlostatsea.com. Tickets for the Ball are a $15 donation. The Hut is located at 190 128th Ave E, Madeira Beach, FL 33708. For more information about the Pirates Ball, please call 727-322-5217. The John Levique weekend events kick off at 10 am on Saturday, May 14th. FREE Parking at Madeira Beach Fundamental School will alleviate the congestion in John-s Pass Village and a FREE shuttle from the school to the Village is sponsored by Jimmie-s Free Beach Rides. Hop off the shuttle at the main entrance to Village Boulevard and inspect the nautical and pirate themed Vendors and the Hurricane Expo sponsored by Lowes with loads of give-a-ways! Food and Beverages will be available near the main stage, as well as even more hurricane expo give-a-ways. The Florida Blood Services Blood Mobile will once again be on site saving lives and collecting Blood Donations. The Family Treasure Hunt begins at Merry Mouse on Saturday, May 14th, 10am to 6pm and continues 10am to 4pm on Sunday, May 15th. The Village Wide treasure hunt is by far, one of the events most popular activities. Families are given a map and a list of clues and are encouraged to dress in pirate garb. The goal is to find all of the spots on the treasure hunt in order to qualify for the grand prize drawing, valued at hundreds of dollars. Participating merchants have donated a gift item for the grand prize, and will provide a ?trinket- for each family on the treasure hunt as proof that they have found their ?spot?. Treasure maps are limited to the first 500 families. All families who complete the hunt will be entered into the grand prize drawing, which will be held at 4:15 pm on Sunday, May 15th at the Merry Mouse store. FREE Additional Children-s Activities include face painting and family friendly pirate entertainers. Windworks graciously sponsors The Children-s Costume Contest that will take place at 4:15 pm on May 14th. All participants will receive a prize, with several larger prizes being awarded to the best of the best! Merbella-s Live Mermaids will be floundering on the beach at Hubbard-s Marina and at the Bell tower several times throughout the weekend for photo ops! Don-t miss the Pirates Dunk Tank-Douse those daunting Pirates and watch them descend to the bottom of the tank! The Boat Parade Committee has shanghaied ships from all ports to participate in the Boat Parade and Sea Battle. The Flotilla has moved to Sunday this year, and will set sail at 11am from just north of the Treasure Island Bridge. The flotilla will continue past Eleanor Island before it enters the battle zone and out-flanks its foes at High Noon at the Boardwalk. There, the participants will engage in a ship invasion and sea battle with plenty of water pistols and black powder cannon! Behind the scenes, judges will be searching for the best decorated boats. Following the invasion, an awards ceremony will be held awarding the most decorated and lively boats their Prizes at Hub-s Tavern on the Boardwalk. Interested parties should attend the Captain-s Party ...err Raft up-the morning of for details and judging numbers. The Boat Parade is environmentally friendly. No beads or balloons shall be thrown in the Sea Battle. For more information, contact Commodore Terry Morehouse at 813-244-0056. FREE The Pirates Pub Crawl is an adult-s only adventure. Tickets will include one FREE alcoholic beverage at each of the participating Pubs as well as a special edition Pub Crawl t-shirt, which will not be sold separately. The Pub Crawl is leisurely and on going throughout the hours of the event. Each of the participating pubs will have entertainment, give-a-ways, and specials throughout the weekend. A Limited number of Pub Crawl tickets are available for a $25 donation and may be purchased at the Pirates Ball on Friday night or at the Event Information booth on Saturday until sold out. For those who have been out to sea too long and require a ride home, please call Jimmie-s FREE Local Rides at 727-217-6935 The West Coast Mutineers are the featured performance group. They are a collection of specialized actors, actresses and re-enactors who design and rehearse their stunts for months before the show. They specialize in recreating an actual scene such as something one may have seen in The Golden Age of Piracy. They bring period style encampments, authentic costuming and choreographed fight circles to the show each year. This year promises to be the ?best year ever?! During the Fight Circles, and while taking a break from their vigorous routine, patrons can visit these talented performers at the West Coast Mutineers Encampment on the North End of Village Boulevard. Two entertainment stages this year will be emceed by Cannibal Crispy and Fish the Ripper at the Hut Parking lot and in the main food court. Additional musical entertainment will include The Brigands, The Bawdy Boys, For Love or Money and Rusty Cutlass. The Gator Crusader, Troupe Sahirnee and the Cincinnati Pirates will also perform stage acts throughout both days. The show ends at dusk on Saturday with a spectacular Fire Show performed by Bohemian Fire. Bohemian Fire is a unique group of Poi Fire Performers who provide a high quality routine, specializing in Fire with all measures of fiery tools including fans, Hula Hoops, swords, ropes, and whips, as well as Fire eating and Fire Breathing. Onlookers are invited to be amazed at dusk on Saturday at the West Coast Mutineers Encampment. On Sunday, the show will close with a traditional Pub Sing at 5 pm on the Main Stage near the Shuttle stop. The Pub sing brings together all of the entertainers who have performed throughout the weekend, so fans can hear them one last time until the following year! The last shuttle sets sail at 6:30 pm, so don-t miss the boat! John Levique Pirate Days is an annual event that takes place on the second weekend in May each year. The event is organized by the John-s Pass Village Association, SIK Promotions, Inc. and Pirates of The Treasure Coast. John-s Pass Festivals could not be made possible without the support of our fine sponsors, including but not limited to; The City of Madeira Beach, Bright House Networks, Wake up with Doug, Barefoot Beach Hotel, Travel Resort Services, Lowes, BeachLife, Pirates Magazine, No Quarter Given Pirate Magazine, Paradise News, Plumlee Realty, Go Locals Only, Griffin Directories, The Hut, VFW Post 4256, Vino Florida, Windworks and all of the John-s Pass Village Merchants who participate in the festivities. Plan to Pillage John-s Pass Village and Prepare for Hurricane Season at The Tenth Annual John Levique Pirate Days, May 13, 14 & 15, 2011, located in the surrounding area of 150 John-s Pass Boardwalk, Madeira Beach. 727-322-5217 www.JohnLeviquePirateDays.com.