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Gasparilla Festival Has Evolved Into Wild Day

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

A home along Bayshore Boulevard gets decked out for Saturday's Gasparilla Parade.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

Published: February 6, 2009

TAMPA - Past exploits include a tight-rope walker balancing between masts of the Jose Gasparilla pirate ship. Drunken mishaps with otherwise well-meaning friends, inappropriately armed with loaded weapons and enticed with a dare. Fog blanketing Seddon Channel before lifting at the last minute for a safe invasion.

"It's an interesting festival and tradition," said Norman Stallings Jr., of Hyde Park, who in 1995 served as King Gasparilla in Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla's Royal Court. "It's wild that day. People who don't care for it head to the movies, but I think people really do enjoy it."

On Saturday, more than 400,000 people are expected to watch the Southwest Airlines Gasparilla Pirate Fest, which begins at 11:30 a.m. with the flotilla on Hillsborough Bay and downtown invasion. Loaded to the scuppers with bearded, scarred and scallywag members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (who on any other day are civic and business leaders), the pirate ship sails to the Tampa Convention Center, where Mayor Pam Iorio is expected to surrender the key to the city.

For those who live along or near the parade's route, the street closures and masses of humanity are viewed either as reasons to celebrate or to flee.

Carl Nelson grew up in South Tampa and remembers going to the parade when it was held on Mondays. It was a local Tampa parade with no fences, a small crowd and no beads.

"I remember running out to the floats to get the coins and spent cartridges," said Nelson, 63. "And the only drinking was done by pirates, which is what pirates do."

He since has seen the parade evolve, although he doesn't like to use the term because it implies improvement.

"It has degenerated into something that is absolutely revolting and disgusting," he said. "Now we have to have a second children's parade, which inconveniences the neighbors, and it has turned into something it didn't originate as."

When Nelson lived on Bayshore Boulevard, some paradegoers would defecate on his lawn. Now, chain-link fences and security guards protect many properties near the route.

Nelson now lives on Davis Islands, where he and his family watch the nautical invasion from afar.

"It's not a debauchery like it is on Bayshore Boulevard," he said.

For clubs and schools near the route, the parade offers a chance to raise money.

Families and friends of Roosevelt Elementary School in Palma Ceia host an annual Gasparilla breakfast; this year's event will raise money to help a family affected by cancer. The school's proximity to Bay to Bay Boulevard makes it a convenient place to hang out before the parade begins.

The Dads Club at the Academy of the Holy Names sells parking at $10 per vehicle at the campus, 3319 Bayshore Blvd. Parking spots, while they last, are available beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The school's Gasparilla Family Day celebration begins at 11:30 a.m. It accommodates about 400 people who use the school as a base during parade day. "Gasparilla is a great event for the academy," said Walt Batansky, president of the Dads Club. "The school being a few blocks away from the main event, yet still on Bayshore, allows us to provide a more controlled atmosphere."

According to Florida legend, Jose Gaspar was a swashbuckling thief who pillaged the state's west coast in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1904, Louise Frances Dodge, society editor of The Tampa Tribune, used the legend as inspiration for the first Gasparilla.

Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla formed and invaded, in full costume, with a parade downtown. The tradition has commenced nearly every year since.

10 a.m. to 11 p.m.: Pirate Fest Street Festival, downtown along Florida Avenue from Kennedy Boulevard to Channelside Drive; free.

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Gasparilla Invasion Brunch, Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin St.; reserved tickets available at www.gasparillapiratefest.com.

11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Gasparilla Invasion begins at south end of Hillsborough Bay and docks at the Tampa Convention Center; free.

2 to about 5:30 p.m.: Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates begins at Bay to Bay and Bayshore boulevards and moves north into downtown Tampa; free; reserved seats available at www.gasparillapiratefest.com.

GOOD TO KNOW

Food and beverages: There are cash-only vendors along the parade route; spectators may bring snacks and nonalcoholic drinks. Glass containers and coolers are prohibited. Anheuser-Busch beer will be sold at tents, with proceeds benefitting local charities such as the Tampa Federation of Garden Club Circles and The Florida Aquarium.

Recycling: Bins for aluminum and plastic will be along the parade route.

For information: www.gasparillapirate fest.com

Source: EventFest

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