For Mother’s Day, families often take Mom out to lunch, Anna Benincasa noted. But what do families do for Dad on Father’s Day?

“Interestingly, we’re finding we’re becoming the destination,” she said. And by “we,” she means the Northern California Pirate Festival, which is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and continues Sunday, Father’s Day, at 10 a.m. at Vallejo’s Waterfront Park.

“They enjoy it,” she said of fathers and families at the festival, which she and other organizers designed as entertainment for an all-ages crowd.

Not only is there entertainment specifically geared for youngsters and others for adults, many of the acts, games, demonstrations and other activities also are suitable for all ages.

That’s by design, Benincasa said.

The organizers, veteran entertainers at Renaissance fairs and various other festivals, were inspired by elements at the events where they played. They picked and refined those to craft the pirate-themed weekend in the park.

They bill the festival as “the biggest playground for all things pirate,” and call it equal parts Mardi Gras, state fair, living history and fan fest.

Only, this one has live mermaids and cutlass-clanging swashbucklers.

“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback,” Benincasa said of some of the thousands who have attended pirate festivals in past years.

But she’s also hearing from folks for whom this year will be their inaugural venture into the gathering of pirate brethren.

Some are fathers who want to do something with their children at a place where they’ll be entertained, too, she said.

She’s also hearing from grandfathers who are delighted to discover that a day among pirates is just what their grandkids want.

“That’s good to hear,” she said.

While the youngsters can learn some swashbuckling at the festival’s fencing school or Calico Jack’s School of Piracy, they can pick up on true pirate history at the Government House.

There, Governor Woodes Rogers lets them discover that there’s a serious side to piracy — it’s not all “Captain Blood” and Captain Jack Sparrow swinging on ropes, sliding down sails or grinning while out-dueling an opponent.

The pirates themselves have had a thoughtful lead-in to this year’s festival, acknowledging the death last month of Phyllis Patterson, a Los Angeles school teacher recognized as the founder of Renaissance fairs. In 1963 she started one as a class activity at her home in the Hollywood Hills.

“We’ve been introspective. Without her influence, we wouldn’t be doing this,” Benincasa said.

Yet she’s pleased that thousands turn out for the pirate festival, and glad to hear families say they’re having a good time.

“We’ve learned from the best,” she said.

The Northern California Pirate Festival is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Vallejo Waterfront Park, 298 Mare Island Way, Vallejo.

Daily admission is $10 for those 12 and older. Tickets are available at the gate and through the festival website, www.norcalpiratefestival.com.