The Brixham Pirate Festival and Other Summer Events Worth Planning Around

Three days a year, the harbour at Brixham becomes the loudest, friendliest, most cutlass-heavy place on the south coast. The Brixham Pirate Festival takes over the town every May bank holiday weekend, and once you have been you tend to plan future Torbay holidays around it. It is properly free, properly silly, and one of the genuine highlights of the south Devon calendar.

Brixham Pirate Festival: what, when and how

The Brixham Pirate Festival 2026 runs from Saturday 2 May to Monday 4 May, the early May bank holiday weekend. Entry is free. The festival is run by volunteers and survives on donations and stallholders, so do drop something in the buckets if you can, and buy a programme. Around 50,000 people are expected across the three days.

The format is straightforward and brilliant. Bring the family, dress as a pirate if you fancy it (around half the visitors do), and wander the harbour and town centre between live music stages, re-enactment battles, sea shanty performances, parades, a costume competition, food stalls and the replica Golden Hind permanently moored at the harbour. The Golden Hind is a working museum normally, and during festival weekend it becomes the natural centrepiece for all the action.

Highlights to look out for include the Pirate Parade (usually on the Sunday afternoon), the children’s treasure hunt, the cannon firings, the Buccaneers Ball, and the Sunday evening shanty session in the harbour pubs. The Cuban Sisters, traditional folk groups and rock acts mix across the stages. There is a quieter, family-focused area near the breakwater for younger children.

Where to park and stay

Brixham is not big, and the bank holiday weekend strains its parking to the limit. Use the park-and-ride from Churston (the King George V playing fields are usually the muster point), or come by ferry from Torquay across the bay. Walking into Brixham past the marina with the sound of sea shanties already drifting up is a lovely arrival. Local accommodation books out months ahead, so if you are thinking about 2027, do not wait.

The English Riviera Airshow

Held a few weeks after the Pirate Festival, the English Riviera Airshow takes over Paignton Green for a long weekend. In 2026 the show runs Friday 29 May to Sunday 31 May. Admission is free, with donations welcome to keep the show running, and a full aircraft line-up is announced in the spring.

Expect the Red Arrows (booked for 2026), Typhoon and Spitfire displays, parachute teams, ground exhibitions, vintage vehicles, food and drink stalls, and a fairground. The flying happens directly over Paignton beach, so you can watch from the sand, from the seafront or from across the bay in Torquay or Brixham. If you want a front-row seat, get to Paignton Green by 10am on Saturday. The grass fills up properly.

For families, the Airshow is a strong fit. Children stare upwards for hours, and there is enough on the ground (military vehicle displays, simulator rides, signing tents with the display teams) to keep younger kids engaged when the sky is quiet.

Torbay Royal Regatta

August adds yacht racing to the calendar. The Torbay Royal Regatta 2026 runs from 21 to 24 August, hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in Torquay. Three national championships and the IRC South West Championship form the core of the racing, with cruisers, sportsboats and SB20s all on the water. From the shore, the bay turns into a forest of white sails, and the seafront restaurants get a proper bump.

Spectating is free. The best vantage points are Torquay harbour, Beacon Quay, Paignton seafront and Berry Head above Brixham. Bring binoculars if you have them. The yacht club holds the post-race social events ashore, and there is usually fringe entertainment along the harbour in the evenings.

The Agatha Christie Festival and smaller events

September brings the International Agatha Christie Festival, with talks, theatre, walking tours and themed dinners across a week in Torquay. Earlier in the year, Torre Abbey runs its Heritage Open Days, and the Babbacombe Model Village illuminations from late October push deep into winter. Christmas brings the Train of Lights on the Dartmouth Steam Railway from late November through December.

The wider point is that Torbay is not just a summer destination. There is usually something on, somewhere across the three towns, all year round.

How to plan around an event

• Book accommodation early. Big events tighten the market a long way ahead. Brixham over the May bank holiday is the toughest weekend.
• Park out of town. Park-and-ride or bus or ferry. Driving into a Brixham Pirate Festival weekend is not a winning move.
• Bring layers. May and August evenings on the coast turn cool. A waterproof in a rucksack is good insurance.
• Check official sites. Programmes shift in the final fortnight. The Brixham Pirate Festival, English Riviera Airshow and Torbay Royal Regatta all have their own websites with timings and stage maps.

The pleasure of timing a holiday around an event is that you get the destination twice. You get Brixham as a working fishing port, and you get Brixham in full pirate roar. The two together are a proper Torbay introduction.

For more on how to weave events into a wider trip, our guide to a 48-hour Torbay itinerary suggests a sensible base and a route between the three towns.