How to Celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day

Photograph by Flickr user Jennifer Gensch.

Friday, September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Time to get your sea legs and gather your mateys and practice your “Arrr”s! Here are a few ways to mark the occasion.

1. Talk Like a Pirate

Photograph from Talk Like a Pirate Day.

After all, that’s what the holiday is for! The International Talk Like a Pirate Day website has resources for helping you get the talk right. And you can even learn to talk like a German pirate or a French pirate. And if that’s all too complicated, or if you live online like I do, you can use their simple translator.

2. Attend a Pirate Party

Photograph by Flickr user Scott Vandehey.

The Faust Hotel & Brewing Company in New Braunfels, Texas, invites all you scurvy dogs Friday, with a costume contest and a pirate talk contest.

The Cure Lounge in Louisville, Kentucky, presents Party Like a Pirate Day with music from Drunk & Sailor.

The Waldorf Beer Club in Scranton, Pennsylvania, will celebrate their 5th annual TLAP Day party. There will be prizes for those showing up in pirate costume.

If you want to find out what’s happening near you, check the Google map of Talk Like a Pirate Day events.

3. Play Putt-putt Free

Photograph from Blackbeard's Cove at Facebook.

A park called Blackbeard’s Cove has to celebrate this auspicious occasion, and the park in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, will award a free game of putt-putt to anyone dressed as a pirate, and there’s a book reading for kids featuring pirate books read by …police officers. It was too difficult for them to find real pirates who can read.

Come in to any location of Pirate’s Island Adventure Golf Friday and get $2 off if you talk like a pirate.

4. Watch a Pirate Movie

Take a look through the 50 saltiest and rummiest Pirate Movies listed in chronological order, and chances are that you’ve seen quite a few of them. Maybe you’ll want to rewatch one or two, or select a new film to enjoy of TLAP Day. There are hundreds of pirate movies, but sadly, not all of them are available at RedBox or Netflix.

The Berwyn Public Library in Berwyn, Illinois, is having a party for kids, featuring a triple feature of pirate movies, headlined by Muppet Treasure Island. Since this is for kids, the party will be on Saturday.

5. Change your Facebook Language

Under the general settings of your Facebook page, you can select “English (pirate)” as your language for the day. Arr!

6. Read About Pirates

May I suggest these enlightening articles from the mental_floss archives?

11 Rules From an Actual Pirate Code

Democracy on the High Seas: How Pirates Rocked the Vote

Did Pirates Really Make People Walk the Plank?

6 Famous Pirate Ships

10 Pirate Myths and Surprises

Or you could read a book about pirates, fiction or non-fiction. A group of authors is staging a pirate book giveaway, open for entries through Friday.

7. Eat and Drink Like a Pirate

Photograph by Flickr user Dave Morris.

Considering that classical pirates were sailing for months at a time, a meal heavy in seafood makes sense. Pirates also stowed pickled and spiced food supplies that would last a long time. And there was hardtack when everything else was gone. But after a looting, food could be sumptuous. Salmagundi was a kind of pirate stew that included everything in the galley. There are also plenty of drink recipes, many featuring rum, for your celebration.

8. Do a Good Deed

Hft, an organization that provides service to those with learning disabilities in England, is using Talk Like a Pirate Day to raise funds for their programs. There are plenty of ways you can join in the fun and help out!

Tampa Bay is using TLAP Day to raise funds for LifePath and Suncoast Hospice. The party starts at 5 at The Getaway in St. Petersburg.

The Ship Inn in Weymouth, UK, is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support during a TLAP Day party starting at noon.

9. Eat a Free Doughnut or Twelve

As they have for years now, Krispy Kreme is giving away doughnuts on September 19th. Go into any Krispy Kreme outlet and talk like a pirate for a doughnut. If you go in dressed as a pirate, you can snag a dozen doughnuts! The bakery also has some tips for celebrating TLAP Day in other ways in their Pirate Academy.