The festival is like most other fairs- full of really good smelling food, kettle corn, fresh lemonade and lots and lots of vendors. What's unique to this is the ships and pirates. There are lots of pirates walking around, singing, giving tours and handing out gold to the little kids.
And if you are willing to fork out a little money, you can do things like tour the ships and even take a little cruise on the ships and watch them shoot the cannons. (Which inevitably set off several car alarms and make a few little kids cry). There was also a man dressed up as a dolphin and a man with several parrots he was letting the kids hold. And the OC fire department was there letting kids tour the fire truck and handing out hats and stickers. Devan loved her hat the most, I think. All in all it was a fun day, but next year we will be sure to get there earlier in order to get a better parking spot!