Gasparilla: A Festival for Pirates by Pirates

The Gasparilla Pirate festival has been celebrated in Tampa, Fla., almost every year since 1904. The celebrations involve a series of parades throughout Tampa that last from the end of January to the end of February. The main Gasparilla parade occurs on the last weekend of January and involves a theatrical takeover of Tampa by José Gaspar and his crew of pirates, also known as ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla.

The namesake of the parade, Gaspar, is a folk hero of the area. He is a pirate who supposedly lived and plundered in and around the Golf region in the early 19^th century, but for whom there is no historical record in the United States or Spain. In fact, the first mention of Gaspar occurred around 1900, right before the first Gasparilla festival took place. This event is a significant money-making enterprise for the city of Tampa. It brings in around $20 million. This makes it one of the largest revenue generating parades in the country with more than 300,000 people in attendance each year.

The parade itself takes on a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere with people throwing coins and beads from their floats and ships while drinking heavily. The festivities are usually capped off the first weekend of March when Gasparilla heads back out to sea. If you have the chance to go to Tampa in February, try and see Gasparilla while he is on leave. There is really nothing else like.