Gasparilla Pirate Festival 2024 | Gasparilla Tampa Bay Part 1

Описание: Gasparilla Pirate Festival 2024 | Gasparilla Tampa Bay

The Gasparilla Pirate Festival (often simply referred to as Gasparilla) is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida, 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), 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 the Jose Gasparilla II, a 137-foot-long replica pirate ship which is actually a steel barge converted to look like a large West Indiaman. Firing loud mini-canons 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 miles long 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 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.