New London – The city flaunted its nautical credentials on Saturday with pirate cosplayers, a tall ship tour and a little revenge theater courtesy of a night-time effigy burning.

The annual two-day Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival kicked off at Fort Trumbull State Park with a gathering of local and state dignitaries between the high stone fort walls and a glittering Thames River that carried ferries and pleasure boats past lines of vendor tents.

Mayor Michael Passero, flanked by this year’s event honorary chairman, state Attorney General William Tong, called New London a fitting festival host, noting the nearby harbor during the height of the whaling era made the city the richest in the state.

He said a confluence of more modern sea-based assets – including the nearby Naval Submarine Base, Electric Boat and Coast Guard Academy – builds upon and enhances the city’s historic seaport background.

Not far from the opening ceremonies, visitors on the pier took advantage of free tours of the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle, a 295-foot-long sailing ship whose silhouette boasted dozens of fluttering pennants in its upper rigging.

Near an inflatable whale-shaped bounce house and “pirates” handing out buccaneer hats, Matt St. Amour strolled the park grounds with his wife, Carrie Thompson, and their 6-year-old grandson, Tristan.

St. Amour, who moved to New London in 2015, said he was most looking forward to the Flock Theatre’s “Burning of Benedict Arnold” event later in the evening.

Arnold fought for the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War but turned traitor, leading the British troops who burned New London on Sept. 6, 1781. Holding that grudge close, city residents every year for a century marched an effigy of the general through the streets and then burned it – a tradition Flock revived years ago.

“It’s wonderful and hilarious,” St. Amour said. “This festival is the kind of tradition we should embrace because it involves New London, Norwich and the Thames River.”

“I’m happy anytime there’s an event that brings people to New London,” Thompson added.

A taste of Basque Country in New London

Parade Plaza served as a festival-within-a-festival location for a Basque Fest tent which featured food, music and performances tied to a southwestern European culture with some French, but mostly Spanish ties.

Dancers clad in berets, loose pants, scarves and flowing dresses high-kicked to the strains of accordion music under a cavernous awning where a tire-sized paella pan sizzled with braising meats, seafood and broth.

Lebanon resident Jon Aramendi, one of the cooks wielding long wooden spoons, left his Basque Country hometown of Markina-Xemein 46 years ago at age 17 to pursue a nearly two-decade long professional jai alai career that took him from Miami and Reno to Newport, R.I.

“Each (paella) pan feeds 100, and we have three,” said Aramendi, now a New London-based physical therapist. “Each pan gets 25 pounds of shrimp and chicken, along with scallops, calamari and rice.”

Aramendi’s 27-year-old son, Lander Aramendi, worked the bar and recalled summer trips to his father’s birthplace not far from a 20-gallon stockpot filled with seasoned paella broth.

“The Basque culture was a big part of growing up and we love sharing our food and drinks with people; there’s a huge sense of nationalism,” he said. “My father lives in a rural part of Lebanon and grows his own fruits and vegetables.”

New England Basque Club President Mary Guerenabarrena, whose group ran the festival, married into the Basque community by way of her first-generation husband, who, like Aramendi, is a former jai alai player.

Guerenabarrena, a Portsmouth, R.I. resident, said her club hosts similar festivals across New England and draws its performers from states as far away as Utah and Idaho. She said traditional Basque “rural” sports, including wood-chopping and feats of strength, were on tap for later in the day.

The maritime portion of the weekend festival is sponsored by the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Office of Tourism and a host of local sponsors. The festival continues from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

j.penney@theday.com