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Krewe Details New Route For February's Knight Parade

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2008

Updated: 12/17/2008 05:29 pm

TAMPA - The Krewe of the Knights of Sant' Yago today described a new route for the Illuminated Knight Parade in February that includes a family-friendly area with better parking.

The Feb. 14 parade will begin at 7 p.m. at Centro Asturiano de Tampa, the Krewe's meeting place at North Nebraska and West Palm avenues. It heads south to Seventh Avenue, east to North 20th Street and north to Palm, ending on North 15th Street about a block away from an after-party at the Cuban Club, organizers said.

New to the event are tents along Seventh Avenue for corporate and VIP guests, similar to the tented areas at the Gasparilla parade, and a family-friendly zone along Palm Avenue between North 20th and North 15th streets.

This is the fifth time in five years organizers have changed the route, said Mark Valenti, co-chairman of the parade. The Krewe has promised the city it will solidify the route once it finds one "we can all buy into," he said.

The 2008 route created several headaches, Valenti said. For starters, the family area at the train station at Nuccio Parkway did not have enough parking and was not well-lit, he said.

Staging the floats for that parade downtown on Meridian Avenue also created traffic problems with the St. Pete Times Forum and the expressway authority, Valenti said.

The new route culminates in the family area, near a daylong "Family Fiesta" at Centennial Park, said John Madiedo, baron of the Krewe. It provides better access to parking and, with the Ybor City focus, should keep the crowds more continuous instead of clustered. It also should allow police to reduce the number of street closures.

"We certainly wanted to do this to enhance what people can see and enjoy in our Hispanic community," Madiedo said.

For years the parade had ended at North 22nd Street, in front of the Columbia Restaurant. Last February, Columbia owners Richard and Casey Gonzmart resigned from the Krewe, which their parents founded nearly 40 years ago, in protest over what they called vulgar comments by a DJ during the Gasparilla boat invasion. "I'm just so sick and tired of parades and women who flash themselves for beads," Richard Gonzmart said at the time.

The Gonzmarts were not a concern in adjusting the route, but establishing a family-friendly area was, said Simon Canasi, co-chairman of the parade. "To be fair, there are always complaints at all parades about certain behavior," he said. The new route will allow families to better enjoy the atmosphere, he said.

It also could help avoid traffic troubles at the Columbia, Canasi said. "Let's face it, it's Valentine's Day, and there are going to be a lot of people going in and out of there that night."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800.

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