From Pirates to Cowboys

Summer’s Trio of Cultural Festivals in Los Angeles Harbor Area!

Celebrate summer’s arrival with RLn’s festival guide, featuring three dynamic events to kick off the season. Pirate Invasion Long Beach returns to Shoreline Aquatic Park on June 29th and 30th, transforming the waterfront into a pirate’s haven with battles, live music, and the popular Pirates Pub Crawl. In Carson, the Samoan Heritage Festival on June 29th at Foisia Park showcases Samoan culture through performances, food, and community art. Meanwhile, Rancho Los Cerritos opens “Untold Legacies: Rethinking the American Cowboy” on July 14th, shedding light on the diverse contributions of cowboys from varied cultural backgrounds. Explore these cultural celebrations and more in RLn’s comprehensive festival guide to start your summer adventures.

Pirate Invasion Long Beach returns to Shoreline Aquatic Park, identified on the treasure map as the “Pirate Island,” on June 29 and 30

Founded by Fred Khammar in 2007, the event is a cosplay favorite in the Southland with fun for the whole family. Known as “The Biggest Pirate Fest in the West,” there’s something for every age. Activities for the youngest mateys include face painting, inflatables, games, and unique pirate goodies. For those interested in the history of pirates, enjoy an interactive pirate encampment as well as pirate battles twice a day. Come dressed in your best pirate regalia and enter the costume contest to name the Duke and Duchess of the Pirate Invasion.

Blanketing the shoreline will be pirate entertainment including magic by Captain Jack Spareribs, black powder and sword fighting show, picture-friendly pirates and mermaids, food/drink and merchandise vendors selling pirate booty from the seven seas, a fire show after dark, and much more. Hard rock, sea shanties, and folk music will accompany the pirate adventure all day as bands are slated on a revolving stage.

Chips the Pirate will lead the pub tour for people 21 and older only (no babies or children in strollers allowed) who purchased additional admission up to the Peninsula Lighthouse, stopping at three sea shanties with a choice of one drink from an extensive list at each location including the Nowhere to Rum Bar. Then meet the Spanish King and Queen in the VIP area. Pub tours are scheduled for 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 1, 3, and 5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission to the Nowhere to Rum pub crawl is $45. See ticket website for arrival times and payment details.

Ticket prices are $10 for kids 12 and under, $20 for adults, +$45 for the Pirates Pub

Crawl, and two levels of VIP passes (Silver for $125 per person, and gold for $200 per

person).

Time: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, June 29, 30

Cost: $10 and up

Details: Tickets, https://www.pirateinvasionlongbeach.com or purchase at the event

Venue: Shoreline Aquatic Park 200 Aquarium Way, Long Beach

Four-time Island Music Award Winner, FIA, Headlines City of Carson Samoan Heritage Festival

An all-day celebration in Carson featuring non-stop cultural performance, various entertainment, cultural foods and a community art event for the entire family will take place at the City of Carson’s Samoan Heritage Festival Celebration. 

Non-stop entertainment will begin at 12 p.m. featuring big names in Samoan reggae, R & B, rap, pop music, homegrown talents and cultural performers. A Cultural Samoan Ava Ceremony will open the event at 11 a.m. Enjoy food and craft display booths plus an interactive community art event for the day’s activities.

Headlining this year is island reggae genre singer and four-time Island Music Award winner, Fia. Fia is a rising singer/songwriter based out of Hawaii of Samoan descent and a native to Harbor City. Fia’s second single, Love Me, is still one of the most highly anticipated tracks at any live performance since its debut five years ago. Other performers include Brownzville, Hooliganz, Jerome Grey, and Praise Da Kid joined by hosts Myz Lulu and DJ A.D. Further, enjoy professional Polynesian Dance Groups performing such as Taupou Samoa, Tupua and Tupulaga.

About 63,000 people of Samoan origin reside in California, meaning almost one-third of the Samoan population in the U.S. lives in California. There are more than 50,000 Samoans in Los Angeles County which is a nearly equal amount of the entire population of American Samoa. The City of Carson is one of the main cities where Samoans settled with their families when they migrated to California.

The aim of the Samoan Heritage Festival is to teach all community members about their Samoan neighbors by way of dance, food, education, culture, skills, gifts  and talents.

Time: 12 to 7 p.m., June 29 

Cost: Free

Details: Community Services Parks and Recreation 310-847-3570 or Foisia Park 310-830-8310.

Venue: Foisia Park, 23410 Catskill Ave., Carson

Untold Legacies – Rethinking the American Cowboy Unveils the Diversity of the American West at Rancho Los Cerritos

The Rancho Los Cerritos or RLC Museum and historic site is opening a groundbreaking new exhibition, Untold Legacies: Rethinking the American Cowboy, on July 14. This exhibition seeks to highlight the rich, diverse legacies of Black, Mexican, and Indigenous cowboys, whose stories have often been overlooked. By exploring who these cowboys were, how they have been defined, and their legacy today, the exhibit challenges and redefines common perceptions of the American cowboy.

Untold Legacies: Rethinking the American Cowboy intertwines history, pop culture and the arts. It will feature works by five local artists who are recontextualizing and reimagining the American Cowboy through their artworks. Lorenzo Baker, Hely Omar Gonzalez, Nia S. Lane, Daniel Tyree Gaitor-Lomack, and Brooklyn Sabino Smith are highlighting the significant contributions of Spanish, Mexican, Native American, and African Americans to the cowboy tradition, from its vaquero beginnings to its complex American legacy. 

The exhibition will also feature contemporary urban equestrian groups educating youth in their communities and schools to carry on the cowboy legacy. Woven throughout the exhibition is historical information about Black, Brown, and Indigenous people of color whose skills and labor contributed to the West.

The exhibition will feature children’s activities, food and beverages for sale, and tours of the historic adobe home. The show runs to June 2025.

Rancho Los Cerritos hours

Wednesday to Friday 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday: 1 to 5 p.m.

Time: 1 p.m., July 14

Cost:  Free

Details: RSVP, https://tinyurl.com/untold-legacies-cowboy 

Venue: Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach