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[15][36], Tampa now hosts many community events during its "Gasparilla Season", which runs approximately from January to March. The connection was first made soon after his death in 1900, when a promotional pamphlet for a Charlotte Harbor resort hotel (see below) claimed that the late John Gmez was the primary source of its tale of the pirate Gasparilla. 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. [14], Many of the events of Tampa's Gasparilla season are organized by "krewes", which are social and charitable organizations modeled on the krewes that participate in the Mardi Gras festivities of New Orleans. & 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. Lane Riverfront Park in downtown Tampa, the festival attracts over 30,000 visitors. Hundreds of thousands will crowd the streets to participate in another day of bead-throwing and debauchery. Reporters and bloggers, alike, Can the Democratic Party regain strength in Florida? Unjustly facing arrest, he commandeered a ship and fled, vowing to exact revenge on his country. Description. Kite-Powell said it wasnt always easy to pull off such an invasion by sea. [41][3], The first written account of Jos Gaspar appeared in the early 1900s as part of an advertising brochure for the Gasparilla Inn in Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island. [3], Gaspar has been associated with various other pirates, both historical and not. 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. This document recounts the Gasparilla legend first published in 1936 but adds a coda which concedes that scholarly research conducted in both Spanish and American archives has not uncovered any evidence of Gaspar's existence. The brochure was produced and widely distributed by the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway, which built the resort at the end of its rail line. 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. 4 things to know. Pirates with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla fill up the 168-ft. Jose Gasparilla II for the annual invasion. 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. 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. 9400 Little Gasparilla Is Unit E2 is a 946 square foot property with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Despite the fact that the Annual Gasparilla Festival started in 1904 to celebrate "Pirate . He tells us about the origins of Gasparilla, which Tampa first hosted in 1904. The whole town closes up for the day and all the citizens get together, they crown a King and Queen, and then the band plays at the Tampa Yacht Club despite the blazing heat. While some feel that the widespread use of the name constitutes a "co-branding" which promotes all similarly named organizations and Tampa in general, others believe that overuse could "water down what it means", and that the potential failures or missteps of one event or organization might reflect poorly on all the others. [4] Subsequent retellings of the Gaspar legend are based upon this fanciful account, including the accidental inclusion of Jos Gaspar in a 1923 book on real pirates that has caused ongoing confusion about his historical authenticity.[5]. The truth is that there never was a pirate named "Gasparilla.". The annual Gasparilla celebration is one of Tampa Bays biggest social events, drawing in hundreds of thousands of people to dress up as pirates and eat, drink and be merry. Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter. [24] In 1885, he told state census takers that he had been born in Corsica,[25] and reported to the 1900 US Census that he was born in Portugal in 1776. Members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, accompanied by a flotilla of hundreds of private boats, sail across Tampa Bay to downtown Tampa on the Jos Gasparilla, a 165' long "pirate" ship which was specially built for this purpose in 1954. [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. And on that legend, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was founded 100 years ago. As the planning has become more complicated over the years, however, the parade has accepted corporate sponsorships to defray costs and hired EventFest to coordinate the event with the city. Since 2005, the Parade of Pirates has taken place on the last Saturday in January. King Edward R. Gunby & Queen Mary Lee Douglas, King W. Penn Dawson & Queen Lillian Stevens, King E.M. Hendry & Queen Kathleen Phillips, King J.G. Many of the same krewes - large and small - also participate in the Gasparilla Children's Parade and the Sant'Yago Knight Parade. The Story of Gasparilla, booklet, 1946. Plastic beads like those at New Orleans Mardi Gras festivities are by far the most prevalent item, with varieties ranging from simple single-color necklaces to intricate and expensive designs, most of which are purchased by krewe members themselves. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The noble woman rejected the pirate's advances until he threatened to behead her if she would not submit to his lust. A look ahead at the legislative session, Barbara Bryant, the first woman to head the U.S. census, has died at 96, Scientists find signs of horse riding in ancient human remains, A man dies of a brain-eating amoeba, possibly from rinsing his sinuses with tap water, Garland supports effort to hold Russia accountable for war crimes. He explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. 'Jack' Smith & Queen Gay Dantzler, King Frank M. Frankland & Queen Lynda Helms, King Charles P. Lykes & Queen Joan Henderson, King C.C. More than a century. 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. Beauty contestants in a 1959 Gasparilla parade. When you are 11 or 12 you are a page, so you serve at the coronation and you walk behind the king or the queen, so you participate, Chapman explained. [3] His book repeated claims that a "burying ground" containing the "bleached bones" of Gaspar's many victims had recently been discovered on Gasparilla Island, that a tall "burial mound" built by a "prehistoric race" had been excavated and found to be full of gold and silver artifacts along with "hundreds of human skeletons", and that a dying John Gmez had confessed to witnessing the murder of the "Little Spanish princess" and sketched a map that led searchers to her body. An average of over 300,000 people attend the event, which contributes over $20 million to the local economy.[38]. [36] Under the guise of "Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla" (YMKG), an organization modeled after the New Orleans Mardi Gras krewes, the "invaders" donned pirate costumes and rode through the streets on horseback encouraging residents to follow them to the festivities. 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. before plunging into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico within sight of the shore. It returned in 1956 as the Gasparilla Invitational Tournament, an amateur competition which has been held annually ever since. 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. Now in its 53rd year, the festival is popular with . 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. One of the most famous involves a Spanish princess (or Mexican, depending on the version) named Useppa who was a passenger on a captured ship. However, the diary was said to have been lost, and no other evidence was disclosed.[7][5]. Because Tampas business community was still relatively small back then, you can look at people who were members of Ye Mystic Krewe and also see they were the heads of different banks in the area, they were the head of TECO, the heads of these big businesses.. 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. The origin of the hand remained a mystery, though the curator of the history center opined that it might be a mummified monkey hand. [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. "[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. [7][22] However, though many versions of the Gasparilla legend claim that Gmez was the last surviving member of the pirate's crew, no contemporary account of Gmez's life or tall tales mention Jos Gaspar. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. [17], In 1949, Fort Myers author Jack Beater published a mass-market paperback version of the Gaspar legend called The Gasparilla Story. Over the next few decades, several more books about pirates or Florida history erroneously included Jos Gaspar / Gasparilla as a real historical figure, leading to continuing confusion about his historical authenticity and repeated attempts to find his lost treasure. 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[50][51], In 2001, the Parade of Pirates was held a week earlier than usual to coincide with Super Bowl XXXV, which was played in Tampa the next day. Then we meet Don Barnes, Executive Officer ofYe Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the group that helped found the festival. 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. 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.. 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. PublishedJanuary 22, 2019 at 5:19 PM EST. Here's who does", "Tourism boosters hope Gasparilla 'season' lures more travelers to Tampa Bay", "Tampa's Old Guard Wary of Diluting Gasparilla", "Is Gasparilla's treasure real? Boca Grande [was then] the principal town of Gasparilla Island, and . [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. [17], Currently, over fifty krewes march in the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, with smaller krewes participating on a rotating basis due to the limited number of available slots. Don't worry, there aren't actually any canon balls inside. [48] Gasparilla became an official holiday in Tampa during this time, with local schools and government offices closed for the day. [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. [56] The Krewe of Venus (a women's organization formed by relatives of YMKG members) was allowed to join the parade in 1966, and the Krewe of Sant'Yago (formed by leading members of Tampa's Latin community) began holding their own Gaspar-themed parade in Ybor City in 1972, with both krewes collaborating somewhat with YMKG. The photo below shows a prominent businessman in Tampa in the typical dress of a knight riding a horse, very much as Rex Lieutenants do to this day, as they precede the king's float on Mardi Gras day. He talks about what goes into putting on the massive event and how it has expanded over the years. Though there is no evidence he actually existed, Gaspar was adopted patron rogue of this new Tampa celebration. Tampa's most prized tradition was sparked 118 years ago and continues to be shrouded in some mystery. The History of Gasparilla Legend has it that a Spanish pirate named Jos Gaspar terrorized his way up and down the west coast of Florida in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Rainy weather helped to dampen the crowds, and the replacement was considered a "flop". "[3] The earliest known written mention of Jos Gaspar was a short biography included in an early 1900s promotional brochure for the Gasparilla Inn on Gasparilla Island at Charlotte Harbor, the author of which freely admitted that the dramatic tale was a work of fiction "without a true fact in it". Look closely and you can spot pirates on the Jose Gasparilla II in 1959 enjoying some adult beverages as they invade the city. "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. Over 300,000 spectators are expected to line the streets to watch the Ashley Children's Gasparilla Parade presented by Chick-fil-A on January 21, 2023 and the Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest on January 28, 2023. "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? 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. , Man charged after dead body, infant found in apartment, Infants death linked to contaminated breast pump,, Carjacking suspect caught after wild chase in L.A., CAT scan: Pet goes through X-ray machine at Virginia, Bradenton family home ransacked by intruders: police. [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. The story of Jos Gaspar's life and career vary in different tellings, especially regarding his origin. [29], The Children's Parade features some of the same krewes and floats as the main parade. [11], The old wooden ship was in serious need of repairs and renovation by the early 1950s, so with financial assistance from the city of Tampa, YMKG commissioned the $100,000 Jose Gasparilla II, which was constructed from a 165-foot-long (50m) steel barge to which masts and other elements were added so that it resembles an 18th-century West Indiaman. . [3][1], Though the brochure presents its "romantic" history of Gaspar as well-established truth, it is entirely fictional. [17], "The Legend of Gasparilla: Myth and History on Florida's West Coast", "Gasparilla parade's 100th edition marked by mostly behaved revelry", "Children's parade kicks off Tampa's Gasparilla celebration this weekend", "Annual Knight Parade lights up Ybor with family-friendly revelry", "Everything you need to know for Gasparilla 2019", "The True History and Swashbuckling Myth Behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Namesake", The History of Gasparilla Pirate Fest - Tampa, Florida, "The pirates are coming! 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. 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. "That's my uncle and my mother going to Coronation back in 1950," said. 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. [22] His self-reported age and birthplace varied, even on official documents. The Gasparilla parade in 1910 was the last year the invasion was done on horseback. On Saturday, pirates will once again storm downtown Tampa during the annual Gasparilla invasion. [1][8], In all versions, the renegade settled along the virtually uninhabited southwest coast of Spanish Florida around 1783 and turned to piracy aboard his ship, the Floriblanca. & Queen Shannon Holt Gillen, King A. Gerald Divers & Queen Marica Cone McKeel, King Richard A. [6], In some versions of the story, Gaspar began life as a poverty-stricken Spanish youth who kidnapped a young girl for ransom. At least a portion of the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates has traversed Bayshore Boulevard into downtown almost since its inception. So, let's get to it! [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. [7][3][11], Most versions of the legend agree that Jos Gaspar met his end in late 1821, soon after Spain transferred control of the Florida Territory to the United States. [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. Culbreath Jr. & Queen Deborah King Davis, King Max H. Hollingsworth & Queen Patricia Shannon Smith, King Gus J. Perdigon D.D.S. In 1936, YMKG commissioned Tampa Tribune editor Edwin D. Lambright to write an authorized history of the organization. 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. Krewe of Venus was formed in 1966 and was the first krewe to allow women to join. Check out our listof street closures, parking info, etc. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) For Richard Chapman, Gasparilla is a story about family. Williams Jr. & Queen Mary Harman Dunn, King Norman Stallings & Queen Lita J. Cannon, King A. Clewis Howell & Queen Rosemary L. Sparkman, King Jerry E. Fogarty & Queen Belva Marie Toland, King Chester H. Ferguson & Queen Billie Elizabeth Dunn, King William A. Gillen & Queen Mary Nell Ward, King Richard F. Pittman Jr. & Queen Brenda A. Williams, King Currie B. Witt & Queen Lesley Quinby Williams, King J. Rex Farrior Jr. & Queen Wynette B. Howell, King H.L. Alcohol has long played a role in Gasparilla, as it has with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. [43][41]. We went with these friends to find it", "Chamber Enlivened by Whiskey Creek, Pirate History", "The Jose Gasparilla and Pirates: Tampa's Own Buccaneer", "Gasparilla 2018: The history behind Tampa's pirate festival", "Ultimate Gasparilla Guide for 2023: Schedule, Parking, Where to Watch + MORE", "Gasparilla 2021 Parades Postponed Because of COVID-19", "Gasparilla 2021 canceled due to coronavirus concerns", A diverse Gasparilla appeases its critics, "A year away, Tampa prepares for back-to-back Gasparilla and Super Bowl weekends", "Meet the sober hands at the wheel of the Gasparilla pirate ship", "Diverse Gasparilla parade has transcended insult of racism", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gasparilla_Pirate_Festival&oldid=1142684736, About two weeks before the Parade of Pirates, a. [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. 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. "I used to watch it from the rooftops,". [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. He said Gasparilla organizers have worked hard to combat that with efforts like ramping up police presence along the parade route, doing educational outreach and limiting the amount of alcohol people can bring and buy. The city has been celebrating the legend of mystical pirate Jose Gaspar since the first Gasparilla in 1904. The legend states that Gaspar terrorized the western coastal waters of Florida in the late 18th to early 19th century. 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. in the manner of the buccaneers! In the 1870 United States Census, he is listed as having been born in 1828. [18] In 1913, "Gasparilla Carnival" was organized as an independent event, as it has remained ever since. [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. 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. Subject. Taliaferro, III & Queen Doris Knight, King Wallace O. Stovall & Queen Grace Freeman, King Otto Lee Henderson & Queen Mary Trice Clewis, King L. Walthugh Lee & Queen Mildred Taliaferro, King Joe Johnson & Queen Lillie Wall Honaker, King Collins Gillet & Queen Marion Harvey, King James W. Warren & Queen Sara Lykes Keller, King Curtis L. Sparkman & Queen Elizabeth Nelson, King J. MacDonell Thompson & Queen Carlotta Cuesta, King L.G. 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. [46] The fair moved to much larger grounds east of Tampa in 1976 and Plant Field is long since demolished, but the basic parade route has remained the same, traveling north up Bayshore Boulevard and ending in or near downtown, approximately 4.5 miles (7.2km) in total. )[13], During the treasure distribution process, a lookout spotted what appeared to be a vulnerable British merchant ship sailing nearby. Letsgetstarted. The 94-year-old was King of Gasparilla during the Truman Administration when the parade route weaved through downtown Tampa and not down Bayshore. [46] The second Gasparilla the following year was not a surprise, as every automobile owner in town was invited to join the mounted pirates in the parade. To learn more, read this article. 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. The annual Gasparilla celebration is one of Tampa Bay's biggest social events, . [32][35], In 1904, members of the Tampa business elite staged a surprise pirate "invasion" during the city's previously sedate May Day celebration. [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. 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. [3][2], There is also no physical evidence to support Gaspar's existence. YMKG was instrumental in establishing the Inter-Krewe Council, which has grown to include more than 60 other Krewes. The legend exists, and that's what matters. Situated along Garrison Channel in downtown Tampa, Sparkman Wharf (615 Channelside Dr, Tampa, FL 33602) is Tampa's new outdoor waterfront destination. In order to accommodate the parades, many streets will be closed. "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". 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. Thus, Gasparilla was born. It's Gasparilla arts season. [18] Since 2011, the parade route has ended at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park along the Tampa Riverwalk, where festivities continue into the evening. 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. [42][43] Besides promotional material and contact information for the Gasparilla Inn, the brochure prominently featured the "Story of Jose Gasparilla," the "last of the Buccaneers" who it said had terrorized the Gulf of Mexico for almost 40 years. [19] So many beads are thrown that in recent years, the city has organized post-parade volunteer cleanup efforts which annually collect thousands of pounds of plastic from the parade route and nearby Tampa Bay. Captured and given the choice between prison and joining the navy, he chose to go to sea, where he served with distinction for several years before leading a mutiny against a tyrannical captain and fleeing to Florida with a stolen ship. He said it took a few years for the festival to become a consistently annual event, but that organizers quickly realized it could be an asset to the city. [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. The Gasparilla holiday was created more than 100 years ago as a way to lure people to visit Tampa. [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. [10] Gaspar has also been associated with Henri Caesar and "Old King John", other semi-legendary pirates for whom there is little to no historical evidence. The History of Gasparilla; The Legend of Jose Gasparilla; Gallery; Calendar; Participation. Courtesy Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System], [Burgert Brothers | Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System], [DAVID KADLUBOWSKI | Tampa Bay Times], [PENDYGRAFT, JOHN | St. Petersburg Times], [ | Tampa Bay Times], Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns to Tampa.