What are those large pyramids next to the Skyway? Culbreath Jr. & Queen Deborah King Davis, King Max H. Hollingsworth & Queen Patricia Shannon Smith, King Gus J. Perdigon D.D.S. [7], There is no evidence to support the claim that several local place names in southwest Florida originated with Gaspar, as many appeared on maps drawn long before his supposedly arrival in the 1780s. [33][6][34], Besides the three main parades and the many galas, parties, and fundraisers hosted by individual krewes, Tampa has long hosted a variety of other Gasparilla-related events from approximately January through March. [46] The first "pirate invasion" was held on May 4, 1904, and the dates of Gasparilla ranged from February to May over the next few occurrences. [1] Most of his surviving crew were captured and hanged, but a few escaped or were imprisoned. [8] Different versions of the story say that he was either a Spanish nobleman and advisor to King Charles III of Spain who was exiled after a romantic scandal in court, a traitorous admiral of the Spanish Royal Navy who stole a ship and fled when his treachery was revealed, or an ambitious young officer in the Spanish navy who was driven to mutiny by a tyrannically cruel captain. The period in which he was supposedly active was well after the "Golden Age of Piracy" (c. 1650 - 1725), when real historical figures such as Bartholomew Roberts, Blackbeard, and William Kidd operated in and around the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic basin. Then we meet Don Barnes, Executive Officer ofYe Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the group that helped found the festival. Gasparilla is one day out of the year, you celebrate the tradition, but really 364 days out of the year youre here working, being part of Tampa, you live here, you worship here, you support all of the organizations here, you try to make this a great place, said Chapman. Gaspar's Grenadiers Promoting More Than Just a Parade Gaspar's Grenadiers, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla's outreach pirates, visit hospitals, assisted living centers, children's venues, and schools, in full pirate attire to engage the community and spread the fun of Gasparilla. [12] Whether or not the mayor actually "surrenders", the pirates stage a "victory parade" along Bayshore Boulevard. It all started in the newsroom of the now-defunct Tampa Morning Tribune, where Society Page Editor Louise Francis Dodge sought to . Rodney Kite-Powell said the first invasion was a huge success. Im passionate about highlighting community efforts to improve the quality of care in our state and make it more accessible to all Floridians. [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. Boca Grande [was then] the principal town of Gasparilla Island, and . Thats my uncle and my mother going to Coronation back in 1950, said Chapman as he held up a photo taken during the Krewes Coronation Ball many decades ago. Girl "pirates," 1968, in the ratlines of a ship. 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. 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. Jos Gaspar, also known by his nickname Gasparilla (supposedly lived c. 1756 - 1821), is an apocryphal Spanish pirate who terrorized the Gulf of Mexico from his base in southwest Florida during Florida's second Spanish period (1783 to 1821). "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". [20], Though very popular now, beads were rarely seen at Gasparilla Parades before the 1990s. Kite-Powell said it wasnt always easy to pull off such an invasion by sea. Florida Memory The Story of Gasparilla, booklet, 1946 In Johnson's first novel, it's the summer of 1972, and Daniel Westcott, 68, has been named king of the pirates, to be crowned at the annual Gasparilla Queen's Party. 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. However, many children of krewe members don costumes to ride aboard floats and toss beads and trinkets to the crowd, and various youth organizations such as sports and dance teams also participate. therefore, in theory, it was the old haunt of the king of the pirates. A note on the following images: While the krewes of the 21st century are more inclusive, Gasparilla was segregated by gender until the 1960s and by race until the 1990s. Some versions of Gaspar's story claim that he often partnered with the real pirate Pierre Lafitte and that Lafitte barely escaped the battle in which Gaspar was killed. & Queen Jane Wallace, King Lee M. Bentley & Queen Dada Pittman Glaser, King G. Pierce Wood Jr. & Queen Patricia C. Williams, King W. DeHart Ayala & Queen Sandra Louise Fogarty, King Michel G. Emmanuel & Queen Caroline E. Murphey, King James W. O'Neal & Queen Helen Parkhill Murphey, King John Germany & Queen Suzanne Galloway Adams, King John H. Boushall Jr. & Queen Jane Gray Hanlon, King Fred R. Martin III & Queen Camille Amanda McWhirter, King James L. Ferman & Queen Mary Winifred Wilson, King Russell S. Bogue Jr. & Queen Darby Crowder, King L.G. [22] His self-reported age and birthplace varied, even on official documents. It centers on a fictional pirate, Jose Gaspar, and a prominent bunch of Tampa citizens who. Also, despite the fact that the supposed location of Gaspar's "regal base" at Gasparilla Island has been developed into the resort town of Boca Grande, no artifacts or other physical evidence of the hideout, his ship, or his lost treasure has ever been found in southwest Florida despite years of searching by amateur and professional treasure-seekers. The 1966 Boat Parade in Tampa Harbor where Gasparilla attacks the City and it "surrenders.". [6], In some versions of the story, Gaspar began life as a poverty-stricken Spanish youth who kidnapped a young girl for ransom. This error led to Gaspar being mentioned in a few other non-fiction books about piracy and Florida history, causing ongoing confusion as to the authenticity of the legend. 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? The parade was even cancelled in 1991 over disputes about diversity. [32] The Knight Parade features a similar mix of participants as the Parade of Pirates, with most of the floats are brightly illuminated since the event begins after dark. 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. [55] The current ship has crossed Tampa Bay to lead every Gasparilla invasion since its launching in 1954 except for 1971, when bad weather and rough seas cancelled the flotilla, though not the parade. 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. [35], Other large-scale events held during the Gasparilla season include the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts (established 1970), the Tampa Rough Rider's St. Patrick's Day Parade (first held in 1977), the Gasparilla Distance Classic road race (established 1978), the Gasparilla Film Festival (established 2006), the Gasparilla Music Festival (established 2013), and the Gasparilla Bowl college football game (renamed in 2018). Though it once had the reputation of being the most "adult-oriented" parade of Tampa's Gasparilla season, the city has tried to reduce public drunkenness and other unruly behavior in recent years and has promoted the parade as a family-friendly event, with some success. Alcohol has long played a role in Gasparilla, as it has with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival (often simply referred to as "Gasparilla"[1]) is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. Courtesy of Dan Barnes / Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. "Pirates" with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla really embrace their roles in the 1954 invasion. 2023 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts to take over Julian B. Lane [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. The History of Gasparilla; The Legend of Jose Gasparilla; Gallery; Calendar; Participation. 4 things to know. Ye Loyal Krewe of Grace O'Malley formed in 1992 and was first all-female group. It's Gasparilla arts season. Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - Inspired by the Legend of Pirate Jose 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. [7], Several historians and other interested parties have attempted to find documentation of Gaspar's existence without success. [47], The main Gasparilla parade was held in conjunction with various other events in its early years, so its timing varied, and it sometimes was not held at all. [18][5] However, amateur gold seekers have repeatedly disrupted nearby archeological sites, often in violation of Florida law. The first invasion by boat was in 1911. [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. The acclaimed art festival that draws award-winning artists from throughout the country is happening March 4-5 at Julian B. Special Events Committee - Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla 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. Chapman has taken part in the festivities since he was young. Some versions of the legend claim that Gaspar entrusted Lopez with his personal log or diary, which have been cited as sources for information about the pirate although neither has ever been produced. [4] The brochure consisted of two parts: a telling of the legend of Jos Gaspar followed by a promotional section touting the Gasparilla Inn and the Charlotte Harbor area in general. Sometimes the ships they found werent in great shape, so they would run aground, he said. [53], The first shipborne Gasparilla invasion came in 1911, when a merchant vessel was borrowed, decorated, and temporarily rechristened the Jose Gaspar for the day. [18], As the scheduling of the Parade of Pirates has shifted over the years, the dates of the other two large parades of the season have generally shifted as well, with the Children's Parade held one week before and the Krewe of San'Yago Illuminated Knight Parade held two weeks after the main Gasparilla Parade. Rainy weather helped to dampen the crowds, and the replacement was considered a "flop". Lane Riverfront Park to . [9][17] However, no trace of this "pirate kingdom" has ever been uncovered despite the fact that the island became a key shipping point for Florida's phosphate industry in the early 20th century and the resort town of Boca Grande now encompasses most of its land area. [37][38] Other local organizations have taken on the Gasparilla / pirate theme, most prominently the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who first took the field in 1976 and installed a replica pirate ship in the stands of their home field at Raymond James Stadium. Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was the first group to participate in the parade, but now there are dozens of other krewes joining in on the festivities. The book also included advertisements for hotels and real estate firms in the Fort Myers and Charlotte Harbor area and invited readers to Make [their] conquest of Sanibel and Captiva Islands . He tells us about the origins of Gasparilla, which Tampa first hosted in 1904. Activating the 25-acre Julian B. ", "You could have a vacation here but there was really no reason to. The following year was the first invasion by boat. [1][15] Besides planning Gasparilla and its own private events, YMKG raises money for various charitable causes and annually endows several college scholarships through its community fund. [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. [28] It is billed as a "family friendly" event, as unlike during the Parade of Pirates, alcohol is not allowed along the parade route, which runs along Bayshore Boulevard and is about half as long as the main Gasparilla Parade. One of the first was the Gasparilla Open, a PGA Tour stop which was sponsored by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) from 1932 to 1935. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. YMKG was instrumental in establishing the Inter-Krewe Council, which has grown to include more than 60 other Krewes. According to several studies, the Parade of Pirates alone has a local economic impact of over $20 million, and the combined events bring in over $40 million. [22][27][23] Most of his supposed birth years would have made him one of the oldest people in the world in 1900, when he died in a boating accident. ", "Aboard Tampa's pirate ship, the 'Jose Gasparilla', "Tampa Mayor Buckhorn defies Gasparilla pirates, keeps key to city", "Experience the Fun & Excitement of Gasparilla Tampa Bay", "8 things you may not know about Gasparilla", Seed for Gasparilla was planted in the Tribune's old newsroom | TBO.com, "Travel through time with our '100 doubloons' of Gasparilla in Tampa Bay", "Need beads for Gasparilla? [3][18][22], Despite his obvious lack of fact-checking, Bradlee's book was used as a source for later works such as Philip Gosse's Pirates' Who's Who and Frederick W. Dau's Florida Old and New, the authors of which also took Gaspar's authenticity for granted. 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". in the manner of the buccaneers! To learn more, read this article. In the decades after another hiatus during World War II, it was set for the second Monday in February. World War II froze Gasparilla from 1941-47, diverting funds to buy war bonds, and leaving 33rd king and queen, James T. Swann Jr. and Queen Ruth Binnicker, on the throne, the only royals to marry . [3], Similarly, Sanibel Island is said to have been named by Gaspar's first mate, Rodrigo Lopez, after his lover whom he had left back in Spain. Check out our listof street closures, parking info, etc. [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. & Queen Anne Lawson Kelley, King William L. (Larry) Smith & Queen India Powell Stallings, King J. Rex Farrior, III & Queen Laura Elizabeth Straske, King Gary W. Harrod & Queen Margo Hall Ennis, King Christopher C. Lykes & Queen Courtney Laurens Farrior, King CVII James A. Turner III & Queen CVII Martha Davis Straske, King CVIII Richard McKinley Chapman III & Queen CVIII Caroline Grace Dearing Lackman, Copyright @ 2023 Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - All Rights Reserved |. In 2004, YMKG published a new centennial history of the organization. His family has been a part of the fun for decades. Part of the weekend programming includes the Emerging Artists Program, which provides . [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. 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. [7][3][9], Different versions of Gaspar's legend relate different episodes in his piratical career. "[18][19][20][21], John Gmez (also known as Juan Gmez and Panther John) was a real person who has become entangled with the legend of Jos Gaspar. The fast-food . 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 Tampa Bay area's annual pirate festival, Gasparilla, first began in 1904 when the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) planned a surprise "mock pirate attack" on Tampa. Over the next decade, the pirate parade was staged as an occasional add-on to other community events, with the highlight of the early period being the first seaborne invasion in 1911. 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. Nashville to Tampa: Hey, nice Riverwalk you got there. He explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. Most agree that Gaspar was born in Spain about 1756, served in the Spanish Navy until turning to piracy about 1783, and met his end in southwest Florida during a battle against the United States Navy in late 1821. 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. 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. [3][2], There is also no physical evidence to support Gaspar's existence. 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. Pirates with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla fill up the 168-ft. Jose Gasparilla II for the annual invasion. On Saturday, pirates will once again storm downtown Tampa during the annual Gasparilla invasion. Gaspar, Jos, -- 1756-1821. [11], The membership of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla is overwhelmingly made up of Tampa's business and civic leaders, which meant that for many decades, the organization was exclusively white and male, leading to some resentment from unrepresented groups. Photos from the past show the festivities have changed over the decades. His works and the writings of other local authors with similar themes served to further expand the story of Gaspar while also sowing confusion about the veracity of the legend. But Westcott, who has never missed a Queen's Party, fails to attend his own coronation . On Saturday, pirates will once again storm downtown Tampa during the annual Gasparilla invasion. Taking inspiration from Mardi Gras krewes, there was a hierarchy in place with a king and queen of Gasparilla crowned each year and debutante balls for young women. [17], In 1949, Fort Myers author Jack Beater published a mass-market paperback version of the Gaspar legend called The Gasparilla Story. A look back at the costumes, floats and festivities over the years. 1904 - 1920; 1921 - 1929; . Pirates. How to Participate in Gasparilla; Pirate Login; Open Mobile Menu. Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter. [4], In 1923, Boston historian Francis B. C. Bradlee received a copy of the Gasparilla Inn brochure from Robert Bradley, then president of the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Company. 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].

Steel Is An Alloy Containing Fe Atoms And C Atoms, Articles K