Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday. It centers on a fictional pirate, Jose Gaspar, and a prominent bunch of Tampa citizens who. As the planning has become more complicated over the years, however, the parade has accepted corporate sponsorships to defray costs and hired EventFest to coordinate the event with the city. This is an all-day event though and so much more than a parade. & Queen Mary Anne Stallings, King Richard S. Clarke & Queen Sue Ellen Germany, King James M. Ingram M.D. Lane Riverfront Park to . Activating the 25-acre Julian B. Awosika, Mary, and Mark Zaloude. It was freely distributed to guests at the Inn and in northern markets to draw attention to the recently opened tourist destination. Barnes isnt one of the lucky men who gets to dress up in pirate costume and ride on the Jose Gasparilla II. [2] The centerpiece of the festivities is the Parade of Pirates (often referred to as the Gasparilla Parade), which is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate Jos Gaspar (also known as Gasparilla), who is a popular figure in Florida folklore despite the fact that he did not exist. The legend of Jos Gaspar, according to an account by Andr-Marcel d'Ans and translated by Marie-Jole Ingalls, Gaspar was a Spanish naval officer, who in the early 1780s mutinied against his. According to several studies, the Parade of Pirates alone has a local economic impact of over $20 million, and the combined events bring in over $40 million. But city leaders have made a lot of changes over the past decade to keep drinking under control. During the parade, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla along with dozens of other krewes throw beads, coins, and various souvenirs to the throngs from about 100 floats, most of them pirate-themed. It returned in 1956 as the Gasparilla Invitational Tournament, an amateur competition which has been held annually ever since. A few days before the Parade of Pirates, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla in full pirate regalia "kidnap" the mayor of Tampa at city hall, take them to a downtown park before assembled local media and onlookers, and demand that the city surrender to Jose Gaspar or suffer the consequences. Once the invasion begins, the boats need to arrive at the convention center within 90 minutes so the pirates can confront the mayor precisely at 1 p.m. Hell hopefully hand over the key to the city so the parade can start and everything can wrap up by early evening. [8] Archives in Spain make no mention of Gaspar as a member of the Spanish court or an officer in the Spanish navy, the U.S. Navy has no documentation indicating that any of its vessels ever encountered a pirate named Gaspar or a ship named Floriblanca, and neither Gaspar nor anyone claiming to be a member of his crew are mentioned in the records of hundreds of piracy trials from the era, which was well after the "Golden Age of Piracy". Though people dressing up in costumes and invading the city may seem like silly fun, the tradition has also played an important role in Tampas high society. ", "Aboard Tampa's pirate ship, the 'Jose Gasparilla', "Tampa Mayor Buckhorn defies Gasparilla pirates, keeps key to city", "Experience the Fun & Excitement of Gasparilla Tampa Bay", "8 things you may not know about Gasparilla", Seed for Gasparilla was planted in the Tribune's old newsroom | TBO.com, "Travel through time with our '100 doubloons' of Gasparilla in Tampa Bay", "Need beads for Gasparilla? The Tampa Bay area's annual pirate festival, Gasparilla, first began in 1904 when the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) planned a surprise "mock pirate attack" on Tampa. The Story of Gasparilla, booklet, 1946. 'Red' Pittman & Queen Anderson Lee Smith, King Richard A. The acclaimed art festival that draws award-winning artists from throughout the country is happening March 4-5 at Julian B. We went with these friends to find it", "Chamber Enlivened by Whiskey Creek, Pirate History", "The Jose Gasparilla and Pirates: Tampa's Own Buccaneer", "Gasparilla 2018: The history behind Tampa's pirate festival", "Ultimate Gasparilla Guide for 2023: Schedule, Parking, Where to Watch + MORE", "Gasparilla 2021 Parades Postponed Because of COVID-19", "Gasparilla 2021 canceled due to coronavirus concerns", A diverse Gasparilla appeases its critics, "A year away, Tampa prepares for back-to-back Gasparilla and Super Bowl weekends", "Meet the sober hands at the wheel of the Gasparilla pirate ship", "Diverse Gasparilla parade has transcended insult of racism", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gasparilla_Pirate_Festival&oldid=1142684736, About two weeks before the Parade of Pirates, a. "[3] The earliest known written mention of Jos Gaspar was a short biography included in an early 1900s promotional brochure for the Gasparilla Inn on Gasparilla Island at Charlotte Harbor, the author of which freely admitted that the dramatic tale was a work of fiction "without a true fact in it". However, the construction of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway through downtown in 1976 ended that tradition, as the 100-foot (30m) masts of the Jose Gasparilla II do not fit under the expressway where it bridges the river near its mouth. The two most common throws before that were plastic or metal commemorative coins produced annually by various krewes and spent gun cartridges. A note on the following images: While the krewes of the 21st century are more inclusive, Gasparilla was segregated by gender until the 1960s and by race until the 1990s. [17], Currently, over fifty krewes march in the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, with smaller krewes participating on a rotating basis due to the limited number of available slots. However, many children of krewe members don costumes to ride aboard floats and toss beads and trinkets to the crowd, and various youth organizations such as sports and dance teams also participate. [1][8], In all versions, the renegade settled along the virtually uninhabited southwest coast of Spanish Florida around 1783 and turned to piracy aboard his ship, the Floriblanca. Whatever his supposed origins, the legends agree that Gaspar fled to the virtually uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida in the 1780s and established his "pirate kingdom" on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor, south of Tampa Bay. They wanted to jazz up Tampas annual May Day celebration and decided to combine elements of a New Orleans Mardi Gras festival with new traditions inspired by legendary pirate Jose Gaspar. When you are 11 or 12 you are a page, so you serve at the coronation and you walk behind the king or the queen, so you participate, Chapman explained. [18], As the scheduling of the Parade of Pirates has shifted over the years, the dates of the other two large parades of the season have generally shifted as well, with the Children's Parade held one week before and the Krewe of San'Yago Illuminated Knight Parade held two weeks after the main Gasparilla Parade. It provided a new social outlet for Tampas middle and upper class, he said. Now in its 53rd year, the festival is popular with . Against a colorful backdrop of pirates, family secrets, and intrigue, Susan Wolf Johnson's King Daniel shines as a literary lighthouse on rocky shores. [5][6] Besides the three large parades, the city hosts many other community events during this time, including the Gasparilla Film Festival, the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, the Gasparilla Distance Classic, the Gasparilla Music Festival, the Gasparilla Bowl college football game, and a lineup of many other events that varies from year to year. [8], Most of the organizations, events, and businesses who use "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" are not affiliated with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla or the City of Tampa, neither of which owns the monikers. Research in Spanish archives has turned up no mention of his early life, his presence in the Spanish royal court, or his career in the Spanish navy. [35], Other large-scale events held during the Gasparilla season include the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts (established 1970), the Tampa Rough Rider's St. Patrick's Day Parade (first held in 1977), the Gasparilla Distance Classic road race (established 1978), the Gasparilla Film Festival (established 2006), the Gasparilla Music Festival (established 2013), and the Gasparilla Bowl college football game (renamed in 2018). Louise Frances Dodge, who was society editor of the Tampa Tribune in 1904, came up with the idea for the festival with Tampas customs director George Hardee. Rather than surrender, Gaspar supposedly wrapped an anchor chain around his waist and leapt from the bow, dramatically shouting "Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's!" Lane Riverfront Park along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the grandaddy organization that started Tampa's signature parade in 1904, will have the rare occurrence of four generations of one family, ages 10 to 95,. [30] To add noise to the festivities, the pirate ship Jose Gasparilla usually sails nearby firing its mini-cannons during the parade, and the day ends with a fireworks display over Tampa Bay. The award-winning Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns for its 53rd year on March 4th and 5th. Tampas first krewe, the Ye Mystic Krewe is one of more than 100 organizations taking part in the festivities. Gasparilla faced controversy in the early 1990s for being a mostly white, male event. [39][40] To tie these events together in the public eye, Visit Tampa Bay, the local tourist bureau, has run multimillion-dollar promotional campaigns across the United States, Canada, and Europe to attract visitors to the area during "Gasparilla Season". Stories about Gaspar say he terrorized Floridas west coast during the 18th and 19th century. [46] The fair moved to much larger grounds east of Tampa in 1976 and Plant Field is long since demolished, but the basic parade route has remained the same, traveling north up Bayshore Boulevard and ending in or near downtown, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2km) in total. [7][3][9], Different versions of Gaspar's legend relate different episodes in his piratical career. The fantastical biography was penned by publicist Pat Lemoyne, who combined and embellished tall tales attributed to well-known and recently deceased local fishing guide "Panther John" Gomez to create the legend of the pirate Gaspar, which Lemoyne freely admitted was "without a true fact in it. He said it took a few years for the festival to become a consistently annual event, but that organizers quickly realized it could be an asset to the city. Unjustly facing arrest, he commandeered a ship and fled, vowing to exact revenge on his country. [22][27][23] Most of his supposed birth years would have made him one of the oldest people in the world in 1900, when he died in a boating accident. Since 2005, the Parade of Pirates has taken place on the last Saturday in January. Whatever his supposed origins, the legends agree that Gaspar fled to the virtually uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida in the 1780s and established his "pirate kingdom" on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor, south of Tampa Bay. The first invasion by boat was in 1911. And on that legend, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was founded 100 years ago. [7], The Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been popular in Tampa since its inception and has grown into the third largest parade in the United States.
