Celebrate Int'l Talk like a pirate day in family fun day at the museum

by Jude Timms on 4 Sep 2017 Arrr! Pirates are taking over the museum. To celebrate International talk like a pirate day the Australian National Maritime Museum is hosting a special family event on Sunday 10 September full of adventuring fun and pirate skullduggery.

Children are invited to dress in their buccaneer best for a chance to win a booty prize. They can take a terrific treasure hunt, get up close to displays of fearsome historic pirate weaponry, join in interactive circus games, enjoy creative activities, face painting and more. The full program includes:

Scurvydog Style: Dress up competition – 10.30am – 3pm

Dare to dress in your best pirate suit for your chance to win a fantastic prize.

Kids On Deck – Patch-Eyed Pirates - 11am – 3pm, $8.50 per child

Join the pirate recruits in Kids on Deck! Decorate a pirate hat, make a bandanna, a flag or a mermaid shadow puppet. Dress up in pirate costumes and play interactive games.

Pirate Face Painting and Temporary Tattoos - 11am – 3.30pm

Have your pirate face painted on - scars, tattoos and ghoulish grins fit for a swashbuckling buccaneer.

Cabinet of Curiosities – Pernicious Pirates and Wicked Weapons – 11am - 12pm and 2pm – 3pm

Get up close and personal with pirate themed objects in our interactive touch trolley. Touch and discover items that relate to navigational tools, dress and weaponry from the historic Golden Age of piracy.

Pirate recruits – character tours with Grognose Johnny - 11.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm

Get to know your pirate captain, learn to pirate walk, sea-shanty dance and talk like a pirate with the infamous Captain Grognose Johnny. Take a treasure hunt around the museum.

Golden Age Pirate History and Musket Firing displays – 1.30pm and 3.30pm

Enjoy spectacular displays of 17th and 18th century muskets as once used by pirates! Hear from historical re-enactors about the innovations in pirate weaponry that brought about the rise and fall of the Golden Age of Piracy.

Balancing Buccaneers - Circus performance and games – 1pm, 2pm and 3pm

See daring and devilish acrobatics and fearless aerial feats! Join our hooping, juggling, balancing buccaneers to learn some piratical circus skills.

International talk like a pirate day was created in 1995 by Americans John Baur and Mark Summers. Since then it has spread across the world, held each year on September 19. For more information on the history of the day visit www.talklikeapirate.com.

The Australian National Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour is open 9.30am – 5pm each day apart from Christmas Day. All Talk like a pirate family fun day activities are included in the Activities Ticket - $8 per adult, $6 per child. For further information visit www.anmm.gov.au.