The Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates, referred to by many people as the Mardi Gras of Tampa, is scheduled to kick off on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11:30 a.m.
For Tampa residents, the Gasparilla celebration means boats, pirates, parades and merriment.
The Parade takes off for its 3.8 mile parade route at the intersection between Bay-to-Bay Boulevard and Bayshore Boulevard and will be celebrating over 100 years of history.
According to http://www.gasparillapiratefest.com, the parade will feature more than 90 elaborate floats, 14 marching bands, more than 50 distinct Krewes and the YMKG pirates.
The name Gasparilla comes from the legendary pirate José Gaspar, the “last of the Buccaneers.”
Gaspar was said to have terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Even though very few facts are known about the life and death of Gaspar, stories from his personal diary tell the account of the capture and burning of 36 ships during his first 12 years as a pirate.
When Gaspar died, he supposedly left an untold fortune in buried treasure along the Florida coast, according to the website.
The treasure has never been found, but the story of Gaspar was revealed when Tampa’s leaders declared him as the patron rogue of their city-wide celebration.
Secret meetings gave way to the first “Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla,” whose 40 members planned to surprise the city of Tampa with a mock pirate attack.
The members came masked and in full costume on horseback to capture the city of Tampa during the festival parade.
Since the first invasion went well, a city-wide demand was voiced to make the Mystic Krewe organization permanent; a replication of the carnival was wanted once per year.
Since the first infamous invasion, the city of Tampa has upheld its tradition by celebrating Gasparilla annually. Today, Ye Mystic Krewe has over 700 members, men who uphold their mascot Gaspar as a “hearty old swashbuckler with courtly manners and possibly—just possibly—prankful habits.”
The Krewe commissioned the construction of the world’s only fully rigged pirate ship to be built in modern times.
The ship is named the José Gasparilla and is a replica of a West Indiaman that was used in the 18th century.
The ship is made of steel at 165’ long by 35’ across the beam, with three steel masts standing at 100’ tall.
The ship is housed at the Tarpon Weigh Stations on Bayshore Boulevard for public viewing.
In addition to the traditional invasion and the city’s parade, the Gasparilla celebration consists of a full week’s worth of events held throughout the city of Tampa.
Yasaman Sherbaf can be reached at ysherbaf@spartans.ut.edu.