Every year in January pirates take over the bay area during the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, exploding in a frenzy of bead tossing and parade roots, crowds of approximately 300,000 form for the famous Parade of Pirates.
This festival is a huge part of bay area culture, but it seems that most people just go for the Instagram pics and the bead haul. Diving into Davy John's locker, there is historical significance to this takeover.
Why the name "Gasparilla"?
The name of the festival came from a pirate named Jose Gaspar, who was known as “Gasparilla”. While only being a mythical legend, Gaspar was believed to have terrorized the gulf coast of Florida from the 1780s until the year 1821 when he was killed in battle between his crew and the United States Navy.
The tale of the pirate also mentions that he had a secret “pirate kingdom” on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor. On that same island within the vicinity of the Boca Grande Hotel, there was believed to be hidden treasure from the pirate.
This rumor of buried gold has enticed treasure-seekers from all over the country. However, nobody has had luck in finding the treasure itself, or clues that there even is anything to be found.
When did the parade start?
The first parade was held in 1904 when the legend of Jose Gaspar was combined with ideas from the Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans to bring a new celebration to the Tampa Bay area. This new parade was introduced as an alternate theme to the May Day celebration which was previously on May 1 annually.
The parade typically took place in either February or May before being moved to the first Saturday in February in 1988. This was to allow more people the opportunity to attend the parade by being on a weekend. Today, the parade takes place on the last Saturday in January and has since 2005.
The early “invasions” that were supposed to simulate pirate invasions of the city, took place primarily on horseback. It wasn’t until a few years later in 1911 when a merchant ship was borrowed and decorated before sailing into Downtown Tampa.
This marked the first ever ship “invasion” at the parade and the tradition continues today. The current ship, Jose Gasparilla, was constructed in the early 1950s and has sailed in every parade since 1954.
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