What is the Gasparilla Parade in Tampa? Parade of Pirates history explored

Gasparilla Parade, also known as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, is a Tampa-based yearly event with more than a century-long history.

The pirate-themed festival is named after the local folk legend José Gaspar. As per the folklore, Gaspar was a pirate who is said to have terrorized the west coast of Florida during the late 18th and early 19th century. Gasparilla Parade aims to revive the pirate’s legend, where Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) performs a mock invasion and a Parade of Pirates every year.

Gasparilla Pirate Festival features the invasion of the city of Tampa by YMKG dressed as pirates. These fake pirates then demand the key to the city from the mayor. After procuring the key, they start their victory parade, which is 4.5 miles long. During the Gasparilla Parade, also known as Parade of Pirates, hundreds of pirates throw beads and trinkets at the spectators.

The extravagant affair sees many costumed pirates, hundreds of floats, marching bands, and other festivities. Apart from the Gasparilla Parade, a children’s parade also happens annually in Tampa.

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YMKG organized the first Gasparilla Parade in 1904 to celebrate May Day

Based on the legend of Gaspar, the YMKG organized the first-ever Parade of Pirates in 1904 to mark the May Day celebrations. Unlike the modern festivities, the pirates did their first mock invasion on foot on May 4, 1904. In the coming years, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival became a significant tourist attraction and a community event in Tampa, Florida.

In 1905, May Day celebrations were discontinued, and Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla staged the Parade of Pirates corresponding to the South Florida Fair. The following year, YMKG awarded the float prizes for the first time. However, the Gasparilla Pirate Festival didn’t happen again until 1910, when the organizers revived it for the Panama Canal celebration.

Until 1910, the mock invasions were staged by land, but this changed in 1911. YMKG performed the first fake invasion by a rented ship named Samuel T. Beacham. For 27 years, YMKG used rented ships/boats until they bought the José Gasparilla I and boarded it to invade in 1937. The first ship was 33-foot wide and 143-foot long, which YMKG used for 17 years.

On its 50th anniversary, YMKG christened its second ship, José Gasparilla II. The new vessel replicated an 18th-century West Indiaman ship, as per YMKG.

The festival started as a celebration for May Day or other occasions and became a yearly carnival. It was initially celebrated in mid-February, but after 1988, YMKG chose the last Sunday of January to commemorate the Gasparilla Parade and other pirate-themed events.

The usual ceremony features hundreds of YMKG pirates who set sail from the south end of Hillsborough Bay on Gasparilla Day. They sail north through the Seddon Channel aboard the José Gasparilla ship, and dock at the Tampa Convention Center in the afternoon.

After the staged surrender of the key to the city of Tampa, the Gasparilla Parade commences at Bayshore Blvd. Moving through Brorein Street, the Parade of Pirates ends at Cass Street & Ashley Drive, while hundreds of thousands of spectators join the festivities.

The number of spectators has is a big reason Tampa Bay Area’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival is one of the largest parades in the US.