Raw States
Beaufort Pirate Invasion
Beaufort, NC · Quirky
- When
- November 14–15, 2026
- Where
- Downtown Beaufort Waterfront · Beaufort · NC
- Cost
- Not confirmed
- Status
- Confirmed from the organizer's published schedule
Reenactors storm downtown Beaufort's waterfront each November to restage the town's actual 1747 battle against Spanish privateers, with cannon fire, sword-fighting demonstrations, and a colonial-era encampment. The event, running since 1960, ties into Beaufort's history with Blackbeard and the wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge nearby.
The history within reach
- Beaufort Pirate Invasionsame spot
Reenactors storm downtown Beaufort's waterfront each November to restage the town's actual 1747 battle against Spanish privateers, with cannon fire, sword-fighting demonstrations, and a colonial-era encampment.
A five-sided masonry fort of nearly five million bricks, taken by Confederate troops in 1861 and retaken eleven months later after Union gunners used rifled artillery and spotters to drop shells inside the walls, an early demonstration that brick forts were finished.
Blackbeard ran his flagship aground in this inlet in 1718, possibly deliberately, to shed most of his crew before taking a pardon.
The state's largest seafood festival lines the Morehead City waterfront with fresh local seafood, live music, and maritime exhibits, drawing more than 200,000 visitors over the weekend.
Caleb Bradham mixed a digestive tonic at his New Bern pharmacy soda fountain in 1893, called it Brad's Drink, and renamed it Pepsi-Cola five years later after the dyspepsia it claimed to settle.