[2] The centerpiece of the festivities is the Parade of Pirates (often referred to as the Gasparilla Parade), which is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate Jos Gaspar (also known as Gasparilla), who is a popular figure in Florida folklore despite the fact that he did not exist. The story of Jos Gaspar's life and career vary in different tellings, especially regarding his origin.
Burger King brings back fan-favorite item for limited time Why is diversity the hot issue in Florida higher education? [3][15][5][2] Despite claims that he was the most feared pirate in the Gulf of Mexico for several decades, searches of contemporary American newspapers have found no mention of the name "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" or of a pirate ship called Floriblanca, and searches of U.S. Navy archives have found no mention of Gaspar in ships' logs or in official court records of the hundreds of piracy trials held during the era. However, the construction of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway through downtown in 1976 ended that tradition, as the 100-foot (30m) masts of the Jose Gasparilla II do not fit under the expressway where it bridges the river near its mouth. When Daniel Westcott, the newly chosen Gasparilla King of Tampa Bay, Florida, goes missing in 1972, the remaining Westcotts are thrown into chaos. Research in Spanish archives has turned up no mention of his early life, his presence in the Spanish royal court, or his career in the Spanish navy. A few days before the Parade of Pirates, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla in full pirate regalia "kidnap" the mayor of Tampa at city hall, take them to a downtown park before assembled local media and onlookers, and demand that the city surrender to Jose Gaspar or suffer the consequences. The "Gasparilla Festival" became a stand-alone event in 1913, and with exception of hiatuses during the world wars and on two other occasions, it has been celebrated every year since. Whatever his supposed origins, the legends agree that Gaspar fled to the virtually uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida in the 1780s and established his "pirate kingdom" on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor, south of Tampa Bay. [1] Finally, it claimed that a burial mound "forty feet high and four hundred feet in circumference" near Gasparilla Island had been found to contain "ornaments of gold and silver" along with "hundreds of human skeletons", but that the bulk of the buccaneer's vast cache of buried treasure "still lies unmoved" nearby, in the vicinity of the Gasparilla Inn. The Gasparilla Innin 1913]. King CVII James A. Turner III & Queen CVII Martha Davis Straske 2022. He talks about what goes into putting on the massive event and how it has expanded over the years. However, though many versions of Jos Gaspar's adventures have been told in various forms over the years - including pulp adventure novels, tourist guides, and official histories of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - all have their basis in the fictional tale first printed in an advertisement for the Gasparilla Inn. King CVIII Richard McKinley Chapman III & Queen CVIII Caroline Grace . Most male prisoners would be forced to join his crew or be put to death, while women would be taken to a nearby isle (called Captiva Island for this reason) to be held for ransom or serve as wives or concubines for the pirates. 1904 - 1920; 1921 - 1929; . "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". [3], Gmez's uncertain birth was said to be just the beginning of an exceedingly long and adventure-filled life. But Barnes said things started to get out of hand and reached a low point around 2010, when the festival saw hundreds of arrests related to underage drinking and confrontations between drunk people. To learn more, read this article. [7], The Gasparilla Pirate Festival has been popular in Tampa since its inception and has grown into the third largest parade in the United States. Lemoyne described Gmez as a "colorful" eccentric who claimed to have been a pirate in order to sell fake treasure maps to "the gullible" for a "fancy figure". So, let's get to it!
Gasparilla 2023 guide: Parking, transportation, what to wear ( KTLA) - Burger King is bringing back a fan-favorite item and a new variation of a classic food offering to celebrate the return of spring. The mayor playfully refuses, and the pirates declare that Gaspar will arrive with an "invasion force" on the following Saturday to steal the key to the city. Dozens of other Krewes have joined the festivities over the years, which has grown into of one of the largest parades in the United States. He explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. "Supersized Gasparilla" saw a record attendance of about 750,000, but though the event was generally well received, the city has opted not to reschedule the parade to coincide with subsequent Superbowls played in Tampa due to the serious challenges posed by large crowds and snarled traffic.
See Gasparilla photos from every decade since the first invasion in 1904 Check out our listof street closures, parking info, etc. [3] It was authored by publicist Pat Lemoyne for the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Company, which had just opened the resort. [22] His self-reported age and birthplace varied, even on official documents. The legend of Jose Gaspar. Various activities and events for children are held in and around downtown Tampa in the hours before the Children's Parade, including the Preschooler's Stroll, which is a short, informal parade of small children riding pirate-themed wagons, strollers, bicycles, and scooters that runs for a few blocks along Bayshore Boulevard. The pirate ship needs to be moved into place to begin the invasion at 11:30 a.m. Tugboats help move the ship, which leads a flotilla of over 1500 smaller boats. "[3][31], Beater published several additional books about southwest Florida; some marketed as fiction, some as non-fiction, and some as guidebooks for tourists, all including tongue-in-cheek dramatic tales about Gaspar and other pirates. 9400 Little Gasparilla Is Unit E2 is located in Placida, the 33946 zipcode, and the Charlotte.
Gasparilla a longtime family affair for YMKG King Richard Chapman The origin of the hand remained a mystery, though the curator of the history center opined that it might be a mummified monkey hand. [36], A wide variety of local businesses, organzations, and smaller events ranging from restaurants to beauty pageants to classic car shows and food festivals also use the names "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla"; according to the Florida Department of State, over 100 entities have registered related names. YMKG was instrumental in establishing the Inter-Krewe Council, which has grown to include more than 60 other Krewes.
Kings & Queens - Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla In 2004, YMKG published a new centennial history of the organization. The legend exists, and that's what matters. And as a result of some of those things, the police presence and the fact that weve restricted the amount of mixed drinks that you can just bring along the parade route, weve seen arrests go down to less than a dozen, he said. Several semi-theatrical events around Gaspar's "pirate invasion" have become traditional: The Children's Gasparilla Extravaganza is held on the Saturday prior to the main parade, currently the second-to-last Saturday in January. Awosika, Mary, and Mark Zaloude. [57][3], The issue grew into a heated controversy in 1990, when the city planned to stage the Parade of Pirates a week earlier than usual to coincide with Super Bowl XXV, which was to be played at Tampa Stadium in January 1991. Here's how to map out your day! Many of the same krewes - large and small - also participate in the Gasparilla Children's Parade and the Sant'Yago Knight Parade. The annual Gasparilla celebration is one of Tampa Bay's biggest social events, drawing in hundreds of thousands of people to dress up as pirates and eat, drink and be merry. & Queen Shannon Holt Gillen, King A. Gerald Divers & Queen Marica Cone McKeel, King Richard A. Most stories agree he was an aristocratic Spanish Navy Officer who later. Though there were plenty of boats in Tampas bustling port, pirates needed to find ships that were empty, which was difficult. [48] Gasparilla became an official holiday in Tampa during this time, with local schools and government offices closed for the day. For several decades, the parade route ended at Plant Field, where the Florida State Fair was taking place, drawing more attendees to the simultaneous events. The award-winning Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns for its 53rd year on March 4th and 5th. . Looking at old photos from past festivals, you can see pirates with drinks in their hands, and the Jose Gasparilla II used in modern invasions is essentially a floating bar. Turn them in to HCSO Valentines, Heres how many people were arrested at Gasparilla 2023, Keep the city clean: Volunteers clean up after Gasparilla, Pirate parade-goers and participants share why they love Gasparilla, Gasparilla season continues with these events in the Tampa Bay area, VIDEOS: Relive all the pirate-filled festivities of Gasparilla 2023, Best smart home devices for older users, according, How to get started on spring cleaning early, according, Worried about your student using ChatGPT for homework? Gaspar could not resist taking one last prize, so he led his crew aboard the Floriblanca to pursue their prey. The following year was the first invasion by boat. In the late 1800s, Gmez lived in a shack with his wife on otherwise uninhabited Panther Key, a small spit of land near Marco Island in the Ten Thousand Islands region of Southwest Florida. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn meets with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla members in 2019 to "negotiate a peaceful surrender of the city," part of the tradition leading up to the annual Parade of Pirates. It was freely distributed to guests at the Inn and in northern markets to draw attention to the recently opened tourist destination. [23] However, during the 1880 US census, Gmez claimed to have been born in France in 1785. [52][60] The number of krewes and similar civic organizations has continued to grow in recent years, dampening controversies over inclusion. The vast majority of loot taken by real-life pirates consisted not of gold doubloons but of easily liquidated trade goods, and there were no nearby towns where stolen cargo could be sold. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices.
Is Tampa's Gasparilla pirate festival origin in fact, or fiction? [52] The city and the National Football League put pressure on the Krewe of Gasparilla to admit African-American members before the event, but the organization refused and cancelled Gasparilla instead. [32][33], In 2015, Lopez's great-grandchildren found a box in their late grandfather's attic which appeared to contain the items found by Ernesto Lopez along with his wedding photo. Events kick-off at 9 am and continue through 10 pm. It moors along the Riverwalk behind the Tampa Convention Center, where the "pirate captain" demands that the mayor hand over the key to the city in a playful ceremony which has had different outcomes in different years. [3][1], Though the brochure presents its "romantic" history of Gaspar as well-established truth, it is entirely fictional. The parade has always been held along Tampa's waterfront near downtown Tampa, and since 2011, it has ended along the Tampa Riverwalk, where festivities continue into the nighttime hours.[4][1]. Barkley & Queen Stella Taliaferro, King W. Reynolds Beckwith & Queen Mary Cotter Lucas, King Tod Ford Gillett & Queen Daisy Giddens, King E.P. For men, getting the chance to don a pirate costume and join the invasion could be a very . And on that legend, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was founded 100 years ago. Initially, they modeled themselves after the Krewe of Rex and were knights or reflected royalty. "[3], Despite this colorful history, there is no evidence that a pirate named "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" ever roamed the Florida coast. [3][27] Most versions of the legend also claim that Gmez knew the whereabouts of Gaspar's vast treasure cache, which seems unlikely given that he petitioned the Lee County Commission for a $8 per month stipend due to destitution. "In 1783, having become a traitor and a pirate, Jos Gaspar gave the name of "Gasparilla" to himself as well as to his ship and the island in Charlotte Harbor, on the west coast of Florida near.
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