With Pirate Fest Setting Sail, Will Local Businesses Take a Plunge?

With the announcement Tuesday that Pirate Festival is cancelled in Port Washington, some local business owners are concerned about the impact it will have on tourism and businesses themselves — and whether a family-friendly event planned in its place will make up for the loss is hard to say for certain.

"Pirate Fest is one of our favorite events of the year because it is in the off-season," New Port Shores owner John Weinrich said. "We are so busy in July and August we could care less about another festival, it's overwhelming. But the pirate one is great, it kicks off the season — they don't care if it rains, it's just a fantastic event that actually makes us local businesses money."

Cathy Wilger of Holiday Inn Haborview said the company is concerned about the weekend because Pirate Fest attendees make up "usually half the hotel at least," she said. There had been no cancellations as of Wednesday afternoon, and Wilger is hopeful that people who had already booked a room for Pirate Fest will still come to attend the new event.

"We're hoping that the new event will help — and the people will still want to come to Port Washington for that weekend," she said.

The Grafton Blues Association is working with Port Washington officials to host a family-friendly music festival with a variety of attractions. The event is described as "a two-day adventure with family activities, multi-genre music stage, roaming performers, BMX stunt performances and much, much more," according to a press release from Mayor Tom Mlada.

"We anticipate the attendance not to change by very much, in fact we're trying to come up with ways for people to go downtown and visit the businesses," said Kris Raymond, of GBA, said of the new festival — set for June 7-8. "Our marketing efforts are pretty far reaching with the things we do anyway … that coupled with the attendance that Pirate Fest had (will help)," she said.

The association has tossed around the idea of doing a scavenger hunt with the businesses, and hopes to finalize many details of the event by late next week.

Weinrich, however, is worried that the new festival won't help his business as much as Pirate Fest did, especially if it sticks to its guns on being "family-friendly."

"A family festival is fine, but I think everything needs a theme and if it doesn’t have a theme I think it's going to be too loose …. Pirate fest was 100 percent pirates — pirate this and pirate that – which was cool actually," he said. "I don't think (the new fest) will be as profitable for us bars and restaurants, just because of the drinking aspect, to be bluntly honest."