Since then, the ship has sailed into the Garrison Channel on the southern side of downtown, and since the 1990s, it has docked along the Tampa Riverwalk behind the Tampa Convention Center, where the pirates are greeted by thousands of revelers before the parade. Over time, the formerly one-day event evolved into a "Gasparilla season" which runs approximately from the beginning of the year until mid-March. But Westcott, who has never missed a Queen's Party, fails to attend his own coronation . [18] Outside of Gasparilla season, the Jose Gasparilla II can usually be found moored near the northern end of Bayshore Boulevard within sight of downtown. Gaspar instantly regretted the deed and took her body to a nearby island, which he named Useppa in her honor, and buried her himself. [59], When Tampa next hosted a Super Bowl in 2001, the parade was held on the Saturday before the game, and an integrated Krewe of Gasparilla was joined by over 30 other diverse krewes before a record crowd of 750,000. "Pirates" with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla really embrace their roles in the 1954 invasion. See Gasparilla photos from every decade since the first invasion in 1904 4 things you can do for your health, The State of Black Tampa Bay: An Exclusive Town Hall, Ybor speakeasy honors Madame Fortune Taylor, Ex got a warrant? [3], The parade is organized by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG), a local organization modeled after the "krewes" of Mardi Gras in New Orleans who play the parts of Gaspar and his crew. [39][40] To tie these events together in the public eye, Visit Tampa Bay, the local tourist bureau, has run multimillion-dollar promotional campaigns across the United States, Canada, and Europe to attract visitors to the area during "Gasparilla Season". [15][36], Tampa now hosts many community events during its "Gasparilla Season", which runs approximately from January to March. [9][10][11] The "pirate ship" fires a near-continuous barrage of loud mini-canons during its journey between Davis Island and Harbour Island accompanied by hundreds of smaller private boats. [14] While scattered seaborne attacks by privateers and others were still an occasional issue when Gaspar supposedly arrived at Charlotte Harbor in the 1780s, the navies of Britain, France, Spain, and the newly independent United States were actively patrolling nearby waters, making it improbable that a pirate could successfully harass shipping for decades at the enormous scale claimed in the various stories about Gasparilla. Gasparilla Pirate Festival - Wikipedia [8], Most of the organizations, events, and businesses who use "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" are not affiliated with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla or the City of Tampa, neither of which owns the monikers. so you can be prepared. Many of the same krewes - large and small - also participate in the Gasparilla Children's Parade and the Sant'Yago Knight Parade. [8] Archives in Spain make no mention of Gaspar as a member of the Spanish court or an officer in the Spanish navy, the U.S. Navy has no documentation indicating that any of its vessels ever encountered a pirate named Gaspar or a ship named Floriblanca, and neither Gaspar nor anyone claiming to be a member of his crew are mentioned in the records of hundreds of piracy trials from the era, which was well after the "Golden Age of Piracy". 4 generations of pirates take part in this year's Gasparilla parade Gasparilla began as a surprise "pirate invasion" on horseback during the city's May Day festival in 1904. This week on Florida Matters, we take a deep dive into the past and present of Gasparilla. Jos Gaspar's legend is celebrated in Tampa, Florida during the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which was first held in 1904. Local place names mentioned were established long before the pirate's supposed arrival, and despite lurid tales regarding the uncovering of gold and human remains, no such artifacts or any other physical evidence of Gaspar's "regal" home base, victims, or treasure has ever been found on Gasparilla Island or anywhere else in the Charlotte Harbor area. Scheduling varied from May to February before World War 2, after which the parade was usually held on a Monday in late January or early February. Instead he said he spends most of his Gasparilla in a police car making sure that all the complex chess pieces move at the right time.. [3] The brochure also claimed that the bulk of Gaspar's vast treasure cache "still lies unmoved" somewhere in the vicinity of Boca Grande. Lane Riverfront Park in downtown Tampa, the festival attracts over 30,000 visitors. 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. He was popular in the court, but when he spurned one lover for another, the jilted lady levied false charges against him, often said to involve the theft of the crown jewels. However, while pirates on foot are no longer allowed to use firearms during the parade, trained members of YMKG still fire loud mini-canons from several specialized floats and during the cross-bay voyage of the Jose Gasparilla II.[22]. The following year was the first invasion by boat. 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. Unjustly facing arrest, he commandeered a ship and fled, vowing to exact revenge on his country. Then we meet Don Barnes, Executive Officer ofYe Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the group that helped found the festival. "Gasparilla pirate's life flows from history's spin doctors", "The Legend of Gasparilla: Myth and History on Florida's West Coast", "Chamber Enlivened by Whiskey Creek, Pirate History", "Not the Type of Person to Meet on a Dark Night was Gasparilla", 1999 Gasparilla Pirate Fest - The Tampa Tribune, "Gasparilla Island Geology, Archaeology, and History", "Is Gasparilla's treasure real? [28][23][3][15][22], The first known written account of Jos Gaspar comes from an early 1900s brochure for the Gasparilla Inn Resort in the recently established tourist town of Boca Grande, Florida on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor. 2023 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts to take over Julian B. Lane The tale of pirate captain Jos Gaspar who, according to the stories, ravaged the west coast of Spanish Florida for 40 years is the inspiration for a bombastic plundering that continues from 1905. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. [21] This tradition was restricted in the interest of safety in 1992 and ended entirely several years later. ( 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 fast-food . [7][27][22], Between his propensity for telling entertaining stories and his real skills as a boat pilot and outdoorsman, Gmez became a popular fishing and hunting guide along Florida's west coast, leading to his being mentioned in several issues of Forest and Stream, an early conservationist magazine. before plunging into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico within sight of the shore. Last year about 1,500 boats joined in on the invasion. The 1935 edition had the largest prize purse on that year's PGA Tour ($4000), but with the deepening of the Great Depression, the tournament was discontinued thereafter. "Gasparilla Island" appears on Spanish and English maps made in the early 1700s, and contemporary documents suggest that the barrier island was named for Friar Gaspar, a Spanish missionary who visited the native Calusa in the 1600s. 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. Here's where to find them", "Hundreds of volunteers with Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful clean up Gasparilla litter", "Think Gasparilla is rowdy now? [9][54] Borrowed ships were used until the 1930s, when Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla bought an old merchant sloop and repurposed it as the Jose Gasparilla, which they use for about twenty years. The noble woman rejected the pirate's advances until he threatened to behead her if she would not submit to his lust. This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 20:52. However, when the pirates fired a warning shot, their intended victim raised an American flag to reveal that it was no merchant vessel, but the United States Navy pirate hunting schooner USS Enterprise in disguise. [16] All versions of the Gasparilla legend claim that he and his crew constructed a "regal" home base on the island, with some specifying that it consisted of over a dozen buildings plus a tall watchtower perched atop an "ancient Indian mound" filled with gold and bones. [9] This is unlikely, as there is no record of Lafitte spending time on the southwest Florida coast, and he died in Mexico before Gaspar's supposed demise. [3] Lambright claimed that his biography of Gaspar was supported by "unquestionable records", including a diary written by the pirate himself and taken to Spain by a member of his crew, perhaps Juan Gmez. Once they had the idea for Gasparilla, Louise Frances Dodge and George Hardee invited members of Tampas high society to form a secret group called Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday. However, no evidence has been found to support this claim. [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. 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. King Daniel - Gasparilla King of the Pirates | Susan Wolf Johnson After a hiatus during World War I, the Gasparilla parade was held in mid-February. This krewe of pirates performed the first invasion in 1904, riding into Tampas May Day parade on horseback and throwing a big gala that evening. [1] Most of his surviving crew were captured and hanged, but a few escaped or were imprisoned. According to family stories, the wooden box contained a pile of Spanish and Portuguese coins, a severed hand wearing a ring engraved with the name "Gaspar", and a "treasure map" indicating that Gaspar's treasure was hidden near the Hillsborough River in Tampa. In 2004, YMKG published a new centennial history of the organization. [29] Assuming that the story of Gasparilla as described was authentic, Bradlee included many details in his book Piracy In The West Indies And Its Suppression without attempting to verify the information. In order to accommodate the parades, many streets will be closed. The legend states that Gaspar terrorized the western coastal waters of Florida in the late 18th to early 19th century. Tampa producer and Blair Witch director are making movies about military, Brain-eating amoeba infection kills person in Florida, Florida bill targeting unions emerges in House, 2019 Tampa Bay Rays spring training schedule. 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. [3][7][5][18], In 1949, a retired Pat Lemoyne gave a history lecture at a Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce function in which he cheerfully admitted that his biography of Jos Gaspar was a "cockeyed lie without a true fact in it" and that he had written the brochure in a dramatic style that "tourists like to hear". Floats need to be in place on Bayshore Boulevard early Saturday morning for the Parade of Pirates to start at 2 p.m. Barnes said this years parade will have 114 floats. Gasparilla was heavily criticized in the early 1990s for being mostly white and male. The first invasion by boat was in 1911. Why is diversity the hot issue in Florida higher education? For men, getting the chance to don a pirate costume and join the invasion could be a very . "Taking the best of everything when a capture was made, he chose the best of the islands in Charlotte Harbor, for his own secret haunts," declared the leaflet. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". Part of the weekend programming includes the Emerging Artists Program, which provides . "That's my uncle and my mother going to Coronation back in 1950," said. Some claim that Gmez was the pirate's cabin boy, others that he was Gaspar's brother-in-law and first mate, still others that Gmez was Gaspar's first mate while his son was a cabin boy, and some even suggest that Gmez was the extraordinarily long-lived Jos Gaspar himself living under a false name. [3][15][22][1], Since then, many elaborate and often conflicting stories have been told regarding Gmez's alleged exploits alongside Jos Gaspar. [3] It was authored by publicist Pat Lemoyne for the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Company, which had just opened the resort. Gaspar and his crew then stage a "victory parade" featuring 50 additional krewes, over 100 floats, and dozens of other community organizations along a route traveling 4.5 miles (7.2km) down Bayshore Boulevard, throwing beads and other trinkets to a crowd of about 300,000. The first Gasparilla parade was held in May 1904, after Tampa Tribune society editor Louise Frances Dodge and Tampa's director of customs George Hardee decided to combine elements of New Orleans Mardi Gras with a pirate theme to promote and enliven Tampa's May Day celebration. [49], The Parade of Pirates has been held every year since 1947 with two exceptions: in 1991, when a controversy over inclusion saw Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla refuse to participate, and in 2021, when the parades and most related events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns to Tampa. Here's what to know There are 65 different krewes, a lot of family-style krewes, mixed krewes as far as male-female, cultural I think that we have everything you could possibly imagine and if we dont, well find room for it, he said. [11], For over half a century, various Gasparilla pirate ships would sail about half a mile up the Hillsborough River to near the University of Tampa, where members of YMKG would disembark for the parade. 'Jack' Smith & Queen Gay Dantzler, King Frank M. Frankland & Queen Lynda Helms, King Charles P. Lykes & Queen Joan Henderson, King C.C. Title. Gaspar could not resist taking one last prize, so he led his crew aboard the Floriblanca to pursue their prey. 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. Don't worry, there aren't actually any canon balls inside. 'Ted' DeLaVergne Jr. & Queen Anne McGowin Robbins, King David R. Murphey III & Queen Lavinia Hannon Touchton, King James W. Warren III & Queen Laura Elizabeth Ferman, King Bruce A. Samson & Queen Janice Coxwell Ferman, King Warren Frazier & Queen Evans Barritt Romano, King Henry G. Ennis Jr. & Queen Nancy Kaye Frankland. The annual Gasparilla celebration is a tradition that goes way back, and this year Daniel is crowned Gasparilla King, which is a big deal. & Queen Mary Anne Stallings, King Richard S. Clarke & Queen Sue Ellen Germany, King James M. Ingram M.D. 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. The fantastical biography was penned by publicist Pat Lemoyne, who combined and embellished tall tales attributed to well-known and recently deceased local fishing guide "Panther John" Gomez to create the legend of the pirate Gaspar, which Lemoyne freely admitted was "without a true fact in it. [39] In 2019, YMKG began an effort to legally to trademark the name Gasparilla to "protect" it for use by "appropriate community events", drawing complaints and counterclaims from others who have used the name or own the trademark for other, more narrow uses. [12] Gaspar had decided to retire after almost four decades of pirating, and he and his crew gathered on Gasparilla Island to split the wealth he'd gathered throughout his career, which some versions of the story value at the enormous sum of $30 million. [30] However, none of these claims were true, as no treasure, murder victims, or other physical trace of Gaspar's exploits has ever been found in the area, and John Gmez drowned while fishing alone, making a deathbed confession impossible. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. [32][35], In 1904, members of the Tampa business elite staged a surprise pirate "invasion" during the city's previously sedate May Day celebration.