It is 1700 - the apex of the Golden Age of Piracy, when shipping routes explode across the Atlantic like a giant fast-paced precursor to the Internet. A shift in geopolitics renders trained navies redundant, and casts desperate, impoverished men out onto the high seas to find sustenance. 

Many shipmen became pirates - leaving behind rigid class-ridden hierarchical societies in favour of floating democracies where each man (& increasingly woman) had a vote & an equal share, and new futures felt possible. We celebrate history’s most powerful pirate - a woman: Ching Shih, a Chinese former sex worker, who commanded over 300 ships, and 40,000 pirates. 

This is your Call to Adventure.

Our unlikely guide and inspiration is the heroic adventurer archetype of the Pirate; the restless, rebellious, resilient, deeply-misunderstood misfit; the underdog sea-dog survivor, outcast and adrift, navigating the mysteries and dangers of life at sea, rejecting the rigid old ways in pursuit of the greatest of treasure - that of autonomy, and self-knowledge. 

On our journey, we’ll travel through many lands, and encounter many creatures. We’ll sail at speed until the winds slacken, and the waves invite us into their depths. We’ll surrender to their seduction, and the vast mystery of the infinite and the feminine, dancing and gliding ever onwards on our moonlit journey as we expand into our own great uncharted territories, and the rich seas of our soul, in our great ongoing quest towards redemption and transcendence.

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“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) /
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea” 
(E. E. Cummings)

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SOUND THE DEEP: Driving, melodic techno to summon storms & stir the blood. Deeper, rolling grooves upstairs to sweep you to sea. Live music, rollicking shanties & songs to lure and beguile you.

IMMERSIVE ADVENTURES: Beguiling sea creatures, swaggering scoundrels & shipwrecked souls bring the legends of the deep to life. Encounters that tempt you from your course and performances that steal your breath.

BELOW DECK: Sailors aren’t the only ones who know their knots. Explore intimate coves of shibari, wax play, massage & sensual discovery.

FIND YOUR CREW: A glorious gathering of pleasure pirates, wild hearts & kindred castaways. Share stories, trade glances & find fellow adventurers to sail with until sunrise.

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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
(Jacques Cousteau)

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LANDS TO EXPLORE

THE GALLEON: Our great beating heart - driving melodic techno with an all-female DJ lineup, surging rhythms, extraordinary performance, and a crew marauding together til dawn.

THE TEMPEST: Our mythical space of stories and tales, drama & spectacle, bursting with characters and dancers and aerialists diving from the masts above

THE QUARTERDECK(S): Our darker, deeper upstairs dancefloor with uninterrupted music. Follow the sound into bewitching beats and mysteries..

THE SAILORS’ DEN: Our live music room with voices, fiddles, drums, songs from faraway shores, rowdy choruses and the ancient joy of heartily singing with a crew.

THE CROW’S NEST: Ropes, knots, shibari, restraint, touch, massage and many other sensual adventures - all with the most epic views imaginable.

THE SIRENS’ COVE: Sensuality, touch, temptation, and surrender to the call of the tantrikas

THE ISLE OF WELLBEING: your sanctuary amidst the storm - for tea, care, comfort and love.

+ scattered throughout the night: unexpected visitors, sea monsters, ghosts and angels, sailors’ games and secret maps, messages in bottles and hunts for treasure; performances, rituals and revelations - and so very much more.

Join us as we set sail for the wilder shores of Techno, Deep House, DJs, Live Music, Drumming, Song, Shanties, Wails, Jigs, Dance, Choreography, Improvisation, Aerial, Performance, Theatre, Storytelling, Spectacle, Characters, Immersion, Interaction, Mischief, Mystery, Reverence, Shrines, Ceremony, Ritual, Adventure, Search, Discovery, Surprise, Spontaneity, Energy, Ecstasy, Community, Co-creation, Costume, Fetish, Beauty, Craft, Art, Installation, Connection, Sensuality, Massage, Conscious Touch, Tantra, Shibari, Impact, BDSM, Dungeon, Restraint, Chillout, Conversation, Wellbeing, Sustenance, Tea, Compassion, Enquiry, Love - & Transformation

Bring your intrepid sense of adventure and curiosity, mischief and empathy, drive - and care for your fellow adventurers.

What lands will you discover?

What people encounter?

What essence unearth?

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“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”
(Herman Melville)

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DRESS CODE: SALTY SENSUALITY;

RAGGED RICHES + SEAFARING SPLENDOUR

Think natural materials, weathered by salt & sea. Think flesh & fabric, muscle & strap, treasure & distress, rags & riches. White wide-sleeved cotton shirts baring your bosom & billowing in the wind. Breeches and corsets as tight as cabins, lashed with the roughness of rope & faded finery; leather & lace; fish-nets & naughtiness; long boots lapping your knees. Braid your hair and button your beard; darken your eyes and adorn your ears; crown with a Tricorn or swaddle your temples with a headscarf; shield an eye with a patch and harbour a squawker on a shoulder; let your sleeves go wide and wild, and your frilly dress explode, or cinch your torso in an exquisitely tailored captain’s coat. Plunder deeper, adorning with seaweed or seashell or the guise of a sea creature, exploring your inner selkie or mermaid.

Steer your mighty ship well clear of the perils of halloween fancy-dress, comedy parrots & souvenir-shop tackiness!

Pirate & Picaroon; Buccaneer & Bootlegger; Brigand & Bandit; Marooner & Marauder; Looter & Leatherneck; Sea dog & Sea wolf; Smuggler & Swashbuckler; Mariner & Misfit; Rebel & Rover; Smuggler & Sea Creature & Castaway; Siren & Selkie; Mermaid & Merman; Sailor & Seeker; Adventurer & Explorer; Rascal & Reverent - we invite you into the depths of your sea and your soul.

Sail through our seas of sartorial inspiration at https://uk.pinterest.com/foxandbadge/fb-202703-pirates/ 

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“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too”
(Vincent van Gogh)

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GENERAL COSTUME GUIDANCE

Explore, embellish - & shed ;) Fetishwear & bare flesh are optional; thoughtful, on-theme dressing is essential. Play beyond gender conventions. Add deviance & flair.

Reinvent. Experiment. We love wild, sexy creativity, especially lovingly handmade outfits. No big budget needed. Join our Costume Workshop ~3 weeks before the event to create & meet fellow guests.

Together, we all create an immersive world of magic & mystery. No everyday clothing, streetwear, officewear or off-theme outfits. Please contribute to the pageant.

Prangsta Costumiers in Deptford offer our guests 15% off - whisper “Pirates”.

Our door team will refuse entry where there’s no sincere costume effort. Meeting the dress code is your responsibility. We want to unleash your inner artist; if you prefer casual dress, just join our meetups or workshops instead.

Questions? foxandbadge+dresscode@gmail.com <3

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“We need the tonic of wildness. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable.”
(Henry David Thoreau)

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TESTIMONIALS FROM BACCHANAL (our last event)

It was a total pleasure to be part of your event! You guys really know how to put on a unique and absolutely beautiful party. I know that it made the Gods very happy to be honoured in the way! You delivered a phenomenal homage to Dionysus, and I will keep that memory for many, many years to come.
Mona & J.D.

Your level of love, dedication & passion is unparalleled. It’s been an absolute joy!! We loved being part of this one-of-a-kind event. I found that this collaboration was really beautiful. Everybody loved it so much. I had so much fun. I bow to you - really humbled to have experience with you.
Othon

I am feeling so very blessed to have been a part of last night with you all. What an incredible night! The scale and level of production, performance and artistry was absolutely fantastic. Such beautiful energy, everywhere! It was phenomenal. It's something I'm going to remember for a long time. It was a peak experience for me. Visually, musically, energetically, it was just beautiful. It gives me so much life and positivity and creative inspiration and hope - and has all the things that I've ever been looking for in an adventurous theatrical night, shared with others.
Tom

I had an amazing night; it was transformative. It changed our relationship profoundly for the better. These amazing nights make people's lives better; they promote change in really positive ways. It felt so good to know we were so part of a community there. It was just beautiful. It was a wonderful night and you guys are geniuses.
Ian

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“The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.”
(Jacques Yves Cousteau

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