A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume , and often accompanied by marching bands , floats , or sometimes large balloons . Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety of celebration .
109-527: The Gasparilla Pirate Festival (often simply referred to as Gasparilla / ˌ ɡ æ s p ə ˈ r ɪ l ə / ) is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida , United States, most years since 1904. The centerpiece of the festivities is the Parade of Pirates, which is framed as a friendly invasion by the crew of the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasparilla) ,
218-507: A family-friendly event, as unlike the Parade of Pirates, alcohol is not allowed along the parade route, which runs along Bayshore Boulevard and is about half as long as the main Gasparilla Parade. The Children's Parade was first held in 1947 and was a simple affair that mostly featured schools and children's organizations pulling homemade floats for a few blocks in downtown Tampa, though it slowly increased in complexity and popularity over
327-455: A King and Queen of Gasparilla to preside over various club galas and events during the season. Besides the Gasparilla parades and holding its own private events, YMKG raises money for various charitable causes and annually endows several college scholarships through its community fund. The Krewe of Gasparilla was Tampa's only officially recognized Gasparilla krewe until the co-ed Krewe of Venus
436-470: A crowd of spectators that usually numbers about 300,000, making the Parade of Pirates one of the largest annual parades in the United States. Gasparilla began as a surprise land-based pirate "invasion" by a few civic leaders during the city's May Day festival in 1904. Over the next decade, a pirate-themed parade and festival was sometimes staged as an add-on to other community events, with the highlight of
545-514: A leak of 65 million gallons of acidic water from a Cargill phosphate plant on the bay's southern shore severely impacted wetlands in the vicinity of the spill. And in April 2021, a breach of a wastewater reservoir at the long-closed Piney Point phosphate plant sent over 200 millions gallons of nutrient-rich mine tailings streaming into lower Tampa Bay. The resulting growth of red tide algae led to an ecocide and killed over 1000 tons of fish in
654-567: A march instead. The first parades date back to c. 2000 BC , only being used for religious or military purposes. The Babylonians celebrated Akitu by parading their deities and performing rituals. To celebrate the federal government's victory in the American Civil War , 145,000 Union soldiers marched in a two-day Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C. They passed before
763-428: A mock invasion during a community festival. The organization has continued to stage the Gasparilla Parade ever since and has evolved into an exclusive social club and registered non-profit . As the festivities have become larger and more complicated over the years, YMKG has accepted corporate sponsorships to defray costs and has employed local firm EventFest to plan the parade with the city. Each year, YMKG members elect
872-529: A near-continuous barrage of loud mini-cannons during its journey between Davis Island and Harbour Island accompanied by hundreds of smaller private boats. It moors along the Riverwalk behind the Tampa Convention Center , where the krewe disembarks and the pirate captain demands the key to the city from the mayor in a playful ceremony which has had different outcomes in different years. Whether or not
981-428: A part of Gasparilla festivities. The earliest examples were decorated wagons or flatbeds pulled by horses or trucks, or simply a decorated truck by itself. More involved designs became more common after World War I, and by the 1950s, several multi-segmented floats with elaborate decorations rolled down Bayshore Boulevard on Gasparilla Day. As of 2024, 115 floats participated in the Parade of Pirates; 14 used by YMKG and
1090-660: A popular figure in Florida folklore. The Parade of Pirates is often referred to as the Gasparilla Parade by locals, and the date of the event is known as Gasparilla Day. The Parade of Pirates and some related events are organized by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG), a local club modeled after the krewes of Mardi Gras in New Orleans . On Gasparilla Day, members of YMKG reenact the fictional story of Gaspar and his crew by donning pirate regalia and sailing across Tampa Bay aboard
1199-586: A portion of the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates has traversed Bayshore Boulevard near downtown almost since its inception. For several decades, the parade route ended at Plant Field where the Florida State Fair was taking place, drawing more attendees to the simultaneous events. The fair moved to much larger grounds east of Tampa in 1976, but the parade route has usually remained the same, traveling north up Bayshore Boulevard and ending in or near downtown, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in total. Since 2011,
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#17328450102391308-432: A similar mix of participants as the Parade of Pirates with the twist that most of the floats are brightly illuminated since the event begins after dark. Though it once had the reputation of being the most adult-oriented parade of Tampa's Gasparilla season, the city has tried to reduce public drunkenness and other unruly behavior in recent years and has promoted the parade as a family-friendly event, with some success. Besides
1417-495: Is 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) long with more than 12,000 participants from all over the world, among them more than 100 bands and around 70 floats and carriages. Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida , comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay , Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater inflow into
1526-483: Is a theatrical invasion by mythical pirate José Gaspar and his crew, who are portrayed by members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG), an organization created for this purpose in 1904. Around noon on Gasparilla Day, members of YMKG set sail across Tampa Bay from near Ballast Point Park to downtown aboard the Jose Gasparilla II , a replica pirate ship built from a flat-bottomed steel barge . The ship fires
1635-583: Is actually a 137-foot-long (42 m), 36-foot-wide (11 m) steel barge to which tall masts, a bowsprit , and other decorative elements have been added. Unlike earlier Gasparilla ships, the current pirate vessel has neither operable sails nor an engine, so on Gasparilla Day, it is guided through the flotilla of hundreds of private boats and watercraft by three tugboats under the direction of experienced harbor pilots . The Jose Gasparilla II has crossed Tampa Bay to lead every invasion since its launching except in 1971, when bad weather and rough seas canceled
1744-456: Is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise caused by climate change. The sea level has risen 8 inches (200 mm) since 1946. Tampa Bay is also one of the areas in the US most at risk when hurricanes arrive because of its location, growing population, and the geography of the bay. The Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition coordinates the region's response to climate change. Communities throughout
1853-787: Is silty and sandy, with an average water depth of only about 12 feet (3.7 m). The relatively shallow water and tidal mud flats allow for large sea grass beds, and along with the surrounding mangrove -dominated wetlands, the bay provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. More than 200 species of fish are found in the waters of the bay, along with bottlenose dolphins and manatees , plus many types of marine invertebrates including oysters , scallops , clams , shrimp and crab . More than two dozen species of birds, including brown pelicans , several types of heron and egret , Roseate spoonbills , cormorants , and laughing gulls make their year-round home along its shores and small islands, with several other migratory species joining them in
1962-511: The Floriblanca . His exploits came to a sudden end in 1821 when, to avoid being captured by the U.S. Navy pirate hunting schooner the USS Enterprise , he wrapped himself in anchor chains and threw himself overboard while shouting, "Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's!" Despite this colorful history, there is no evidence that a pirate named "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" ever roamed
2071-627: The Florida Department of State , over 100 entities have registered related names. Other local organizations have taken on the Gasparilla / pirate theme, most prominently the National Football League 's Tampa Bay Buccaneers , who first took the field in 1976 and installed a replica pirate ship in the stands of their home field at Raymond James Stadium . Most of the organizations, events, and businesses who use "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" are not affiliated with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla or
2180-710: The Gasparilla Film Festival (established 2006), the Gasparilla Music Festival (established 2013), and the Gasparilla Bowl college football game (renamed in 2018) along with a variety of other events that change from year to year. One of the first related events was the Gasparilla Open , a PGA Tour stop sponsored by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla from 1932 to 1935. The 1935 edition had the largest prize purse on that year's PGA Tour ($ 4000), but with
2289-679: The Jose Gasparilla II , a 137-foot-long (42 m) replica pirate ship which is actually a steel barge converted to look like a large West Indiaman . Firing loud mini-cannons and accompanied by hundreds of private boats, the pirates make their way to the Tampa Convention Center , where they demand that the mayor surrender the key to the city in a playful ceremony. YMKG then stages a 4.5-mile-long (7.2 km) victory parade down Bayshore Boulevard featuring over 100 floats , marching bands and other live entertainers, and dozens of additional krewes and community organizations. Participants on floats and on foot throw beads , coins, and other trinkets to
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#17328450102392398-645: The "Story of Jose Gasparilla", the "last of the Buccaneers" who it said had terrorized the Gulf of Mexico for almost 40 years. Among its many dubious claims, the short biography said that the nickname "Gasparilla" means "Gaspar the outlaw" in Spanish when it is actually a diminutive form meaning "little Gaspar"; it claimed that Gasparilla Island was named for the pirate when the name actually appears on Spanish and English maps from well before his supposed arrival; and it claimed that
2507-491: The "bleached bones" of Gaspar's victims along with many old coins had been discovered in local "Indian mounds" when no such find has ever been documented. The brochure also claimed that the bulk of Gaspar's vast treasure cache "still lies unmoved" somewhere in the vicinity of Boca Grande. The brochure was penned by publicist Pat Lemoyne, who combined and embellished regional tall tales attributed to well-known and recently deceased local fishing guide "Panther John" Gomez to create
2616-547: The 1780s through the 1820s. Different versions of the story say that he was either a Spanish nobleman and advisor to King Charles III of Spain , who was exiled after a romantic scandal in court, a traitorous admiral of the Spanish Royal Navy , who stole a ship and fled when his treachery was revealed, or an ambitious young officer in the Spanish navy who was driven to mutiny by a tyrannically cruel captain. Whatever his origins,
2725-403: The 1950s. However, industrial and agricultural runoff along with runoff from developed areas pose a continuing threat to marine ecosystems in the bay, particularly by clouding the water with sediments and algae blooms, and seagrass coverage declined slightly in the late 2010s. Wastewater pollution from old phosphate plants near the shoreline has been a particular problem. For example, in 2004,
2834-514: The 1980s, local minority organizations were publicly pointing out that exclusion from YMKG symbolized their continued exclusion from Tampa's top social and economic circles, as membership largely overlapped that other local organizations such as the Tampa Chamber of Commerce and key yacht and country clubs. An invitation to join YMKG did not only allow the invitee to dress like a pirate for the parade; it
2943-729: The 1991 Parade of Pirates a week earlier than usual to coincide with Super Bowl XXV , which was to be played in Tampa Stadium in January. As planning commenced in 1990, local chapters of the NAACP and the Urban League made use of the media's focus on the internationally broadcast event to highlight YMKG's segregated membership, and the city and the National Football League pressured the Krewe to admit its first African-American members. While claiming that it
3052-622: The American South in the early 20th century, it was strictly racially segregated like the rest of the Deep South . Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was established by Tampa's business and civic elite during the depths of the Jim Crow era , and the private and somewhat secretive organization remained exclusively white and male even after most public segregation had been rolled back during the 1960s. The parade itself made small steps towards inclusion over
3161-543: The Bay, including St. Petersburg and Tampa are adapting infrastructure and buildings to face changes in sea level. Humans have lived in Florida for millennia, at least 14,000 years. Due to worldwide glaciation, sea levels were much lower at the time, and Florida's peninsula extended almost 60 miles west of today's coastline. Paleo-Indian sites have been found near rivers and lakes in northern Florida, leading to speculation that these first Floridians also lived on Tampa Bay when it
3270-501: The City of Tampa, neither of which owns the monikers. While some feel that the widespread use of the name constitutes a co-branding which promotes all similarly named organizations and Tampa in general, others believe that overuse could dilute the meaning and significance of the festival, and that the potential failures or missteps of one event or organization might reflect poorly on all the others. In 2019, YMKG began an effort to legally trademark
3379-595: The Corps of Engineers dredged another channel from the mouth of Tampa Bay to the Port of Tampa, instantly making the city an important shipping center. The Corps of Engineers currently maintains more than 80 miles of deep-water channels in Tampa Bay up to a depth of 47 feet. These must be continuously re-dredged and deepened due to the sandy nature of the bay bottom. While dredging has enabled seaborne commerce to become an important part of
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3488-447: The Florida coast. 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
3597-513: The Floridian leg of the Trail of Tears . For the next 100 years, many new communities were founded around the bay. Fort Brooke begat Tampa on the northeast shore, Fort Harrison (a minor military outpost on Florida's west coast) begat Clearwater , the trading post of "Braden's Town" developed into Bradenton on the south, and St. Petersburg grew quickly after its founding in the late 19th century, on
3706-447: The Gasparilla Music Festival, the Gasparilla Bowl college football game, and a broad slate of other events that varies from year to year. Most of these events are not organized or officially sanctioned by the city or YMKG, which have only limited legal control of the Gasparilla name. Taken together, the events of Tampa's Gasparilla Season have an estimated local economic impact of about $ 40 million. The theme and focal point of Gasparilla
3815-483: The Interbay peninsula and Hillsboro Bay on the east with an overall name of Bay of Spiritu Santo . At other times, the entire bay was identified as The Bay of Tocobaga. The United States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821. The name Spirito Santo seems to have disappeared from maps of the region in favor of "Tampa Bay" (sometimes divided into Tampa and Hillsboro Bays) soon after the US established Fort Brooke at
3924-500: The Parade of Pirates is limited to fifty krewes per year, with smaller krewes taking turns on a rotating basis. Parade The term "parade" may also be used for multiple different subjects; for example, in the Canadian Armed Forces , "parade" is used both to describe the procession and in other informal connotations. Protest demonstrations can also take the form of a parade, but such cases are usually referred to as
4033-575: The President, the Cabinet, and senior officers from May 23–24, 1865. At the end of hostilities in Europe in 1944–45, "victory parades" were a common feature throughout the recently liberated territories. For example, on 3 September 1944, the personnel of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division marched six abreast to the music of massed regimental pipe and drum bands through the streets of Dieppe , France, to commemorate
4142-495: The Tampa Bay area's economy, it has also damaged the bay's water quality and ecology. More care has been taken in recent decades to lessen the environmental impact of dredging. Dredged material has also been used to create several spoil islands on the eastern side of Hillsboro Bay. These islands have become important nesting sites for many seabirds, including threatened species such as oystercatchers , and have been designated as "sanctuary islands" that are off-limits to boaters. In
4251-456: The Tampa Bay region would be virtually uninhabited for almost 200 years. Tampa Bay was given different names by early mapmakers. Spanish maps dated from 1584 identifies Tampa Bay as Baya de Spirito Santo ("Bay of the Holy Spirit "). A map dated 1695 identifies the area as Bahia Tampa . Later maps dated 1794 and 1800 show the bay divided with three different names, Tampa Bay west of
4360-640: The United Kingdom, where they are often associated with Royal occasions. Similarly, for ships, there may be a sail-past of, e.g., tall ships (as was seen during Trafalgar 200 ) or other sailing vessels as during the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of World War II . The longest parade in the world is the Hanover Schützenfest that takes place in Hanover every year during the Schützenfest . The parade
4469-434: The United States. Most of the expense is paid by YMKG through memberships dues, vendor fees, tickets for premium seating areas, and corporate sponsorships, with the city redeploying police and other staff and resources to limit its financial contribution. According to a 2004 study, the main parade alone had a local economic impact of $ 22 million and the combined events brought in over $ 40 million, with officials estimating that
Gasparilla Pirate Festival - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-567: The area for over a century. The United States took possession of Florida in 1821 and established Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in 1824. The communities surrounding Tampa Bay grew tremendously during the 20th century. Today, the area is home to about 4 million residents, making Tampa Bay a heavily used commercial and recreational waterway and subjecting it to increasing amounts of pollutants from industry, agriculture, sewage, and surface runoff . The bay's water quality
4687-663: The authenticity of the legend. However, though many versions of Gaspar's adventures have been told in various forms over the years—including pulp adventure novels, tourist guides, and the official history of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla—all have their basis in the fictional tale first printed in an advertisement for the Gasparilla Inn. The first Gasparilla parade was held in May 1904, after Tampa Tribune society editor Louise Frances Dodge and Tampa's director of customs George Hardee decided to combine elements of New Orleans Mardi Gras with
4796-553: The backstory depicting the pirate ship Octopus anchored offshore. The first shipborne invasion came in 1911, when a merchant vessel was borrowed, decorated, and temporarily rechristened the Jose Gaspar for the day. A series of borrowed ships were used until the 1930s, when Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla bought an old merchant sloop and repurposed it as the Jose Gasparilla , which they used for about twenty years. The old wooden ship
4905-529: The bay and along the nearby gulf coast and may lead to further damage to seagrass beds. The effects of Hurricane Milton in October 2024 caused polluted waste from the fertilizer industry including products from Mosaic , which were retained after the production of phosphate, to enter into Tampa Bay. Both Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene caused disruption in the production of phosphate fertilizers from Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, like other parts of Florida ,
5014-475: The bay are distributed among over a hundred small tributaries, rather than a single river. The Hillsborough River is the largest such freshwater source, with the Alafia , Manatee , and Little Manatee rivers the next largest sources. Because of these many flows into the bay, its large watershed covers portions of five Florida counties and approximately 2,200 square miles (5,700 km ). The bottom of Tampa Bay
5123-607: The bay is the Hillsborough River , which flows into Hillsborough Bay in downtown Tampa . Many other smaller rivers and streams also flow into Tampa Bay, resulting in a large watershed area . The shores of Tampa Bay were home to the Weeden Island Culture and then the Safety Harbor culture for thousands of years. These cultures relied heavily on Tampa Bay for food, and the waters were rich enough that they were one of
5232-456: The bay was connected to the Gulf of Mexico. This culture, which relied almost exclusively on the bay for food and other resources, was in turn replaced by the similar Safety Harbor culture by approximately 800 AD. The pre-contact Indigenous nation most associated with the Tampa Bay are the historic Tocobaga nation, who are known to be among the ancestors of the contemporary Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes of Florida. The Safety Harbor culture
5341-433: The bay. Not finding gold or silver in the vicinity and unable to convert the native inhabitants to Christianity, the Spanish did not remain in the Tampa Bay area for long. However, diseases they introduced decimated the native population over the ensuing decades, leading to the near-total collapse of every established culture across peninsular Florida. Between this depopulation and the indifference of its colonial owners,
5450-591: The century and severely impacting the marine ecosystem. Many previously common species became scarce, and bay beaches were regularly closed due to unsafe levels of bacteria and pollutants. Beginning in the early 1980s after federal and state legislation to improve water quality, authorities installed improved water treatment plants and tightened regulation of industrial discharge , leading to slow but steady improvement in water quality and general ecological health. By 2010, measures of sea grass coverage, water clarity, and biodiversity had improved to levels last seen in
5559-438: The city has organized post-parade volunteer cleanup efforts which annually collect thousands of pounds of plastic from the parade route and nearby Tampa Bay. Though very popular now, beads were rarely seen at Gasparilla Parades before the mid-1980s. The two most common throws before that were plastic or metal commemorative coins produced annually by various krewes and spent gun cartridges . For decades, many members of YMKG walked
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#17328450102395668-470: The city of Tampa's downtown wharves on Hillsboro Bay. Most ships would anchor well out from shore and transfer cargo and passengers to and from the city in smaller boats. Henry B. Plant 's railroad line reached the area in 1884 and ran across the Interbay Peninsula to Old Tampa Bay, where he built the town and shipping facility of Port Tampa at its terminus. In 1898, Plant used his connections in
5777-399: The clearing of mangroves for shoreline development were important factors. Most damaging was the discharge of waste water and other pollutants into the bay, which drastically degraded water quality. The bay's health reached a low point in the 1970s. The water was so murky that sunlight could not reach the shallow bottom, reducing sea grass coverage by more than 80% compared to earlier in
5886-500: The crowd. The parade has been broadcast live on local television for decades: WFLA-TV has provided coverage since 1955, and WTVT-TV also covered the parade from 1955 to 1980. Many of the events of Tampa's Gasparilla season are organized by social and charitable organizations known as krewes , which were originally modeled on the Mardi Gras krewes of New Orleans . Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla came together informally in 1904 to stage
5995-434: The decades. It moved to its current route in 2002 and usually draws about 100,000 attendees. The Children's Parade now features many of the same krewes and several of the same professional floats featured in the main parade. Children of krewe members don costumes and ride on the floats tossing beads and trinkets to the crowd, and local youth organizations such as sports and dance teams also participate, usually performing along
6104-557: The deepening of the Great Depression , the tournament was discontinued thereafter. It returned in 1956 as the Gasparilla Invitational Tournament, an amateur competition which has been held annually ever since. A wide variety of local businesses, organizations, and smaller events ranging from restaurants to beauty pageants to classic car shows and food festivals use the names "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla"; according to
6213-516: The early 1900s as part of an advertising brochure for the Gasparilla Inn in the newly established town of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island. The brochure was produced and widely distributed by the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway , which built the resort at the end of its rail line. Besides promotional material and contact information for the Gasparilla Inn, the brochure prominently featured
6322-408: The early 20th century, traveling overland between the growing communities around Tampa Bay was an arduous process. The trip between Tampa and St. Petersburg was almost 50 miles (80 km) around the north end of Old Tampa Bay and took up to 12 hours by train and over a full day over uncertain roads by car. The trip between St. Petersburg and Bradenton was even longer – over 70 miles (110 km) all
6431-446: The early period being the first seaborne invasion in 1911. The Gasparilla Festival became a stand-alone event in 1913, and with the exception of hiatuses during world wars, it has been celebrated almost every year since. The parade has been scheduled for late January or early February for much of its existence, and since 2005, it has taken place on the last Saturday in January. The route of the Gasparilla Parade has traditionally wound along
6540-523: The era, which was well after the Golden Age of Piracy . Also, despite the fact that the supposed location of Gaspar's "regal base" at Gasparilla Island has been developed into the resort town of Boca Grande , no artifacts or other physical evidence of the hideout, his ship, or his lost treasure has ever been found in southwest Florida despite years of searching by amateur and professional treasure-seekers. The first written account of José Gaspar appeared in
6649-554: The federal government to make Port Tampa a major embarkation point for the U.S. Army during the Spanish–American War , leading to the U.S. Congress appropriating funds for the United States Army Corps of Engineers to begin the first large dredging operation in Tampa Bay. A deep shipping channel was created which linked Port Tampa to the mouth of the bay, enabling Plant to greatly expand his steamship line. In 1917,
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#17328450102396758-563: The festivities. In 1988, the Parade of Pirates was moved to the first Saturday in February so that out-of-towners could more easily take part. Since 2005, the parade has been held on the last Saturday in January except in 2021, when all major events of the Gasparilla Season were canceled due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic . As the scheduling of the Parade of Pirates shifted over
6867-409: The few Native American cultures that did not have to farm. The Tocobaga was likely the dominant chiefdom in the area when Spanish explorers arrived in the early 1500s, but there were likely smaller chiefdoms on the eastern side of the bay which were not well documented. The indigenous population had been decimated by disease and warfare by the late 1600s, and there were no permanent human settlements in
6976-621: The first floats were decorated barges that were towed along the canals with ropes held by parade marchers on the shore . Floats were occasionally propelled from within by concealed oarsmen , but the practice was abandoned because of the high incidence of drowning when the lightweight and unstable frames capsized. Strikingly, among the first uses of grounded floats – towed by horses – was a ceremony in memory of recently drowned parade oarsmen. Today, parade floats are traditionally pulled by motor vehicles or are powered themselves. Multiple grand marshals may often be designated for an iteration of
7085-597: The floats of several other krewes and organizations are stored in the "float barn", a warehouse procured by YMKG for that purpose. Parade participants on floats and on foot have traditionally tossed souvenirs as they make their way along the route, but the specific items have changed over time. Plastic beads like those at New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities are by far the most prevalent item, with varieties ranging from simple single-color necklaces to intricate and expensive designs, most of which are purchased by krewe members themselves. So many beads are thrown that in recent years,
7194-547: The flotilla, though not the parade. For over half a century, various Gasparilla pirate ships would sail about half a mile up the Hillsborough River to Plant Park on the grounds of the University of Tampa , where members of YMKG would disembark for the parade. The construction of the Tampa Crosstown Expressway in 1976 ended that tradition, as the 100-foot (30 m) masts of the Jose Gasparilla II do not fit under
7303-491: The highway where it bridges the river near its mouth. Since 1992, the ship has made its way into Garrison Channel on Gasparilla Day to dock along the Tampa Riverwalk behind the Tampa Convention Center , where the pirate crew disembarks among thousands of revelers. Outside of Gasparilla season, the Jose Gasparilla II can usually be found moored near the northern end of Bayshore Boulevard within sight of downtown. At least
7412-437: The impact has increased in the years since. To promote the area's many springtime events, Visit Tampa Bay, the local tourist bureau , has run multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns across the United States, Canada, and Europe encouraging visitors to experience "Gasparilla Season". The theme of Gasparilla was inspired by the legend of the pirate José Gaspar , who supposedly operated off the west coast of Spanish Florida from
7521-587: The involvement of the United States in the war, and when the festivities resumed in 1920, they were regularly scheduled for mid-February to coincide with the Florida State Fair . The Parade of Pirates went on another hiatus from 1942 through 1946 during World War II. When it returned in 1947, it was set for a Monday in mid-February, a tradition which lasted for almost four decades. Gasparilla Day became an official holiday in Hillsborough County during that period, with local schools and government offices closed for
7630-552: The krewes of Mardi Gras, members often spend a great deal of money on elaborate costumes, beads, and floats. 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. Many of the same krewes—large and small—also participate in the Gasparilla Children's Parade and the Sant' Yago Knight Parade. Parade floats have long been
7739-478: The lake-to-bay transformation is not completely understood, the leading theory is that rising sea levels following the last ice age coupled with the formation of a massive sink hole near the current mouth of the bay created a connection between the lake and the gulf. Tampa Bay is Florida's largest open-water estuary, extending over 400 square miles (1,000 km ) and forming coastlines of Hillsborough , Manatee and Pinellas counties. The freshwater sources of
7848-471: The legend of the local pirate to promote and enliven Tampa's May Day celebration. The first occurrence consisted of several dozen local businessmen disguising themselves as pirates, riding horses through town to simulate a surprise pirate invasion, and encouraging startled observers to follow them to the May Day festival. The second Gasparilla the following year was not a surprise, as every automobile owner in town
7957-621: The legend of the pirate Gaspar. Years later, Lemoyne gave a local history lecture in which he admitted that he had written the Gasparilla story "in a style that tourists like to hear" but that it was "without a true fact in it." In 1923, author Francis Bradlee obtained a copy of the Gasparilla Inn brochure and, assuming it was factual, included Gaspar in a book he was writing about piracy in the West Indies . This error led to José Gaspar being mentioned in several additional non-fiction books about piracy and Florida history, causing ongoing confusion as to
8066-411: 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 . Gaspar is said to have taken many ships and held many female hostages for ransom while preying on ships in the Gulf of Mexico from Louisiana to the Spanish main aboard his flagship,
8175-701: The liberation of the city from German occupation, as well as commemorate the loss of over 900 soldiers from that formation during the Dieppe Raid two years earlier. On the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 held in Moscow , Soviet Union in June 1945, the Red Army commemorated Victory in Europe with a parade and the ceremonial destruction of captured Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS standards. The parade float got its name because
8284-635: The main parade, and the Sant' Yago Illuminated Knight Parade, which is organized by the Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago in the historic neighborhood of Ybor City two weeks after the main parade. 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 ,
8393-536: The mayor actually "surrenders", the pirates stage a victory parade along Bayshore Boulevard . During the parade, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla along with about fifty other krewes throw beads, coins, and various souvenirs to the throngs from over 100 floats , most of them pirate-themed. In addition to the krewes, high school and university marching bands and drill teams often participate, and many local businesses and organizations build and enter their own elaborate floats from which they also throw trinkets to
8502-462: The misconception that it is the name of a particular municipality when this is not the case. Tampa Bay formed approximately 6,000 years ago as a brackish drowned river valley type estuary with a wide mouth connecting it to the Gulf of Mexico . Prior to that time, it was a large fresh water lake, possibly fed by the Floridan Aquifer through natural springs . Though the exact process of
8611-563: The mouth of the Hillsborough River in 1824. For the next several decades, during the Seminole Wars , the Tampa Bay would be a primary point of confrontation, detention, and forced expulsion of the Seminole & Miccosukee people of Florida. Fort Brooke, Fort Dade, and the American military's miscellaneous Egmont Key facilities were the primary sites associated with the removal of the Seminole in
8720-477: The name Gasparilla to "protect" it for use by "appropriate community events", drawing complaints and counterclaims from others who have used the name or own the trademark for other, more narrow uses. In 2020, the issue was considered by the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board . Crowd size for the Parade of Pirates is typically about 300,000, making it one of the largest annual parades in
8829-455: The ongoing health of the estuary. The term "Tampa Bay" is often used as shorthand to refer to all or parts of the Tampa Bay area , which comprises many towns and cities in several counties surrounding the large body of water. Local marketing and branding efforts (including several professional sports teams, tourist boards, and chambers of commerce) commonly use the moniker "Tampa Bay", furthering
8938-407: The parade route armed with six-shooters or other handguns loaded with blanks which they frequently fired in the air. The empty shells were tossed aside as the pirate reloaded, sending children scrambling for the unique souvenirs. This tradition was restricted in the interest of safety in 1992 and ended entirely several years later. While pirates on foot are no longer allowed to use firearms during
9047-495: The parade route has concluded at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park along the Tampa Riverwalk , where festivities continue into the evening. The Gasparilla parade was held in conjunction with various other events in its early years, so its timing varied when it took place at all. The first mock invasion was held on May 4, 1904, and pirate-themed community festivities were held on dates ranging from February to November prior to World War I. The parade and related events were canceled during
9156-563: The parade, and may or may not be in actual attendance due to circumstances (including death). A community grand marshal or other designations may be selected alongside a grand marshal to lead the front or other parts of the parade. Since the advent of such technology, it became possible for aircraft and boats to parade. A flypast is an aerial parade of anything from one to dozens of aircraft, both in commercial context at airshows and also to mark important dates, such as national days or significant anniversaries. They are particularly common in
9265-408: The parade, and the day ends with a fireworks display over Tampa Bay. The Sant' Yago Illuminated Knight Parade (sometimes referred to as the Gasparilla night parade) has been organized since 1974 by the Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago. It is held in the historical neighborhood of Ybor City on a Saturday night, usually two weeks after the Parade of Pirates in mid-February. The Knight Parade features
9374-519: The parade, trained members of YMKG still fire loud mini-cannons from several specialized floats and during the cross-bay voyage of the Jose Gasparilla II . Several semi-theatrical events take place before and after the Gasparilla Day pirate invasion: The Children's Gasparilla Extravaganza is held on the Saturday prior to the main parade, currently the second-to-last Saturday in January. It is billed as
9483-510: The refuge on Egmont Key . Most of the islands (including several man-made islands built from dredge spoil ) and sandbars are off-limits to the public, due to their fragile ecology and their use as nesting sites by many species of birds. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program keeps watch over the Bay's health. Tampa Bay was once teeming with fish and wildlife. People of the Safety Harbor culture lived almost entirely from mullet, shellfish, sea turtles, manatees, crabs, and other bounties harvested from
9592-436: The replacement was considered a "flop". Later in 1991, YMKG admitted two Black members and agreed to allow additional krewes to join the parade, and the Parade of Pirates returned in 1992 with an expanded participant list that better reflected the community's population. When Tampa hosted Super Bowl XXXV in 2001, the parade moved to the Saturday before the game as planned a decade before, and an integrated Krewe of Gasparilla
9701-444: The rest by other krewes, local businesses, civic organizations, and sports teams. Some remain relatively simple in design, but a trend in recent years has been to build more elaborate floats with lights, moving animatronic elements, water or smoke effects, and hidden wet bars and bathrooms for riders, with some costing as much as $ 100,000 to design and construct. Outside of Gasparilla season, YMKG's active and retired floats along with
9810-572: The route. Various activities and events for children are held in and around downtown Tampa in the hours before the Children's Parade, including the Preschooler's Stroll, which is a short, informal parade of small children riding pirate-themed wagons, strollers, bicycles, and scooters reminiscent of the earliest versions of the children's parade. To add noise to the festivities, the pirate ship Jose Gasparilla usually sails nearby firing its mini-cannons during
9919-408: The sea. As late as the early 20th century, visitors still reported huge schools of mullet swimming across the bay in such numbers that they "impeded the passage of boats". The establishment and rapid growth of surrounding communities during the 20th century caused serious damage to the bay's natural environment. Heavy harvesting of fish and other sea life, constant dredging of shipping channels, and
10028-499: The surrounding communities much faster and furthering the economic development of the Tampa Bay area. The difficulty of traveling between Tampa and St. Petersburg in the early 20th century inspired the world's first scheduled air service, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line , which operated during the tourist season of 1914. While the construction of bridges made air travel across Tampa Bay unnecessary, several airports have been built along
10137-510: The three main parades and the many galas, parties, and fundraisers hosted by individual krewes, Tampa has long hosted a variety of other Gasparilla-related events from approximately January through March. Large-scale events during 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),
10246-427: The tradition of local elites pretending to be a rapacious pirate crew plundering the city could be seen as problematic. Other criticism had its roots in the earliest iterations of the parade and the original organization behind the festival, and these critiques led to a controversy which gained national attention in the early 1990s. Though Tampa was home to one of the largest and most prosperous Hispanic communities in
10355-442: The waterfront into downtown Tampa , and since 2011, it has ended along the Tampa Riverwalk , where festivities continue into the nighttime hours. Over time, the formerly one-day event has evolved into a Gasparilla season which runs from approximately the beginning of the year until mid-March. Two other major parades during this time are the Gasparilla Children's Parade, which runs a shorter route on Bayshore Boulevard one week before
10464-608: The way around Tampa Bay, a trip that still took about two hours into the 1950s. In 1924, the Gandy Bridge over Old Tampa Bay reduced the driving distance between Tampa and St. Petersburg to 19 miles (31 km). Ten years later, the Davis Causeway (later renamed the Courtney Campbell Causeway ) was built between Clearwater and Tampa. More bridges criss-crossed Tampa Bay over the ensuing decades, making travel between
10573-543: The western bay shore opposite Tampa. By 2010, the Tampa Bay Area was home to over 4 million residents. As Tampa began to grow in the mid-1800s, roads across central Florida were still just rough trails and rail lines did not yet extend down the Florida peninsula, so the most convenient means of traveling to and from the area was by sea. By the late 19th century, however, the shallow nature of Tampa Bay made it impossible for large modern vessels with deeper drafts to reach
10682-592: The winter. The cooler months are also when warm-water outfalls from power plants bordering the bay draw one out of every six West Indian manatees , an endangered species, to the area. Tampa Bay was designated as an "estuary of national significance" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1990. Two National Wildlife Refuges are located in Tampa Bay: Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge and
10791-429: 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. The Parade of Pirates and related festivities have faced various criticisms over their long history, from complaints about unruly crowds and public drunkenness to observations that
10900-471: The years. Female relatives of YMKG members formed the Krewe of Venus in 1966 and were allowed to participate in the Gasparilla Parade the following year. Leading members of Tampa's Latin community formed the Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago in 1972 and organized their own parade in Ybor City beginning in 1974. However, African-Americans and others among Tampa's diverse population remained excluded from YMKG. By
11009-400: Was a sign that they had "arrived in the community". As former Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn later reflected, "You had this huge ... public debate about the role of the Krewe of Gasparilla, but the larger issue was making sure that everyone had a seat at the table, particularly African Americans." This simmering issue grew into a heated controversy in 1990. Tampa and YMKG had agreed to stage
11118-413: Was dominant in the area at the time of first contact with Europeans in the mid-1500s. The Tocobaga , who built their principal town near today's Safety Harbor in the northwest corner of Old Tampa Bay, are the most documented group from that era because they had the most interactions with Spanish explorers . However, there were many other coastal villages organized into various small chiefdoms all around
11227-401: Was in serious need of repairs and renovation by the early 1950s, so with financial assistance from the city of Tampa and the local chamber of commerce, YMKG commissioned a $ 100,000 replacement. The Jose Gasparilla II debuted during Gasparilla's 50th anniversary celebration in 1954 and has been used ever since. Though designed to resemble an 18th-century West Indiaman , the Jose Gasparilla II
11336-480: Was invited to join the mounted pirates in the parade. The pirate-themed festival was not held again until 1910, when it was revived as part of a community celebration marking the opening of the Panama Canal . In 1913, a Gasparilla Carnival that included a pirate parade and weekend festival was organized as an independent event, as it has remained ever since. The first several mock pirate invasions were land-based, with
11445-566: Was joined by over thirty other krewes before a record crowd of 750,000. Though "Supersized Gasparilla" was well received and was seen as a sign of the community's social progress, the city has opted not to repeat the schedule change when hosting subsequent Super Bowls due to the serious challenges posed by large crowds and snarled traffic across downtown and South Tampa . The number of krewes and other participating civic organizations has continued to grow in recent years, dampening controversies over inclusion. Due to practical concerns, participation in
11554-461: Was not a racist organization and was open to accepting Black members, YMKG argued in September 1990 that it was "too late" to expand its membership before the 1991 parade and canceled the event instead. The city of Tampa hastily put together a replacement parade called "Bamboleo", which was billed as a "multicultural festival" and did not have a pirate theme. Rainy weather helped to dampen the crowds, and
11663-536: Was organized in 1965. This was followed by the Ybor City –based Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago in 1972 and the Tampa Rough Riders in 1978. The first all-female Ye Loyal Krewe of Grace O'Malley joined in 1992. More krewes were established after YMKG opened up participation in the parade in the 1990s. Krewes are centered around various ethnic, cultural, and historical themes or favorite charity causes, and much like
11772-463: Was seriously degraded by the early 1980s, resulting in a sharp decline in sea life and decreased availability for recreational use. Greater care has been taken in recent decades to mitigate the effects of human habitation on Tampa Bay, most notably upgraded sewage treatment facilities and several sea grass restoration projects, resulting in improved water quality over time. However, occasional red tide and other algae blooms have caused concern about
11881-649: Was still a freshwater lake. Evidence of human habitation from this early period has been found at the Harney Flats site, which is approximately 10 miles east of the current location of Tampa's downtown waterfront. The earliest evidence of human habitation directly on the shores of Tampa Bay comes from the Manasota culture , a variant of the Weeden Island culture , who lived in the area beginning around 5,000–6,000 years ago, after sea levels had risen to near modern levels and
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