Managed, marketed and produced annually by EventMakers for the city of Tampa, Gasparilla is one part pirate lore, one part tradition, one part corporate sponsorship, one part backslapping lawyers, one part maritime safety nightmare, 10 parts aimless crowd, 100 parts alcohol, and one part city parks and recreation employees cleaning up the mess.
To taste this toxic grog, head down to Bayshore Boulevard, anywhere between Bay to Bay Boulevard and the Platt Street bridge, at noon on Saturday, Feb. 7.
It is then that legendary marauder Jose Gaspar, looking something like a rotisseried Johnny Depp, leads a flotilla of pleasure craft into Tampa Bay aboard the Jose Gasparilla, a replica of a West Indiaman commonly sailed in the 18th century. The event is an evolved reenactment of the historic invasion of 1904, in which Tampa's social and civic leaders (at the suggestion of Tampa Tribune society editor Louise Francis Dodge) donned masks and pirate garb and "captured the city" on horseback.
Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla sails its ship between Davis Island and Harbour Island to the Tampa Convention Center amidst a volley of cannon fire, where the krewe docks, debarks and receives the Key to the City from Mayor Pam Iorio.
After a buffet brunch ($48) with a cash bar at the convention center, the party resumes with the epic Gasparilla Parade at 1:45 p.m.
Totaling 90 floats and 14 marching bands, the parade begins at Bay to Bay Boulevard, continues north along Bayshore Boulevard to the Platt Street bridge, continues east on Channelside Drive, turns north on Florida Street to Jackson Street, turns east on Jackson and ends at Marion Street.
The bulk of the crowd swarms the parade's route past Hyde Park, where many of the neighborhood's residents have cookouts going with grills in their yards and kegs on their porches. All along the way, delegates aboard the floats wave, dance, sneak nips from flasks and toss out trinkets, mainly beads of the cheap plastic variety paid for by corporate sponsors such as banks, telecommunications companies, auto dealers, radio stations, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum and Coca-Cola. (Rum and Coke — what a coincidence!)
By the time the parade ends at 5 p.m., there are enough busted bead strands, discarded garments, empties and general litter on the streets to fill a dozen dumpsters.
The fun doesn't end there, though. No way, Jose Gaspar. On until 11 p.m. there's a street fest downtown, along Franklin and Platt streets, Florida Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard, replete with beer tents, food vendors and live music stages. And there are tales that say, on this night, randy pirates barter with soused damsels, trading beads for peeks at their treasure chests.
For more info, visit gasparillapiratefest.com or call 813-353-8108.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2004.