[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". The noble woman rejected the pirate's advances until he threatened to behead her if she would not submit to his lust. [18][5] However, amateur gold seekers have repeatedly disrupted nearby archeological sites, often in violation of Florida law. The truth is that there never was a pirate named "Gasparilla.".
Gasparilla history explained, legend of Jose Gaspar | wtsp.com - KTVB 8 fun facts you might not know about Gasparilla - wfla.com 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. "[44] Among its many inaccuracies, the brochure stated that pirate's nickname "Gasparilla" means "Gaspar the outlaw" in Spanish when it is actually a form meaning "little Gaspar", that Gasparilla Island was named for the pirate when the name actually appears on Spanish and English maps from well before his supposed arrival, and that the "bleached bones" of Gaspar's victims along with many old coins had been discovered in local "Indian mounds" when no such find has ever been documented. [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. 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.
Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - Inspired by the Legend of Pirate Jose [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. An average of over 300,000 people attend the event, which contributes over $20 million to the local economy.[38]. The empty shells were tossed aside as the pirate reloaded, sending children scrambling for the unique souvenirs. Activating the 25-acre Julian B. [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. 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 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.
Burger King brings back fan-favorite item for limited time Krewes are centered around various ethnic, cultural, and historical themes or favorite charity causes, and much like the krewes of Mardi Gras, members often spend a great deal of money on elaborate costumes, beads, and floats. Chapman serves as the King for Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla this year. 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. He talks about what goes into putting on the massive event and how it has expanded over the years. "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". What are those large pyramids next to the Skyway? The ball is also where Chapman had his first date with his wife. 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. Nashville to Tampa: Hey, nice Riverwalk you got there. Community Outreach. Pirates with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla fill up the 168-ft. Jose Gasparilla II for the annual invasion. Though written in the style of a light adventure novel, the narrator claimed that it was a true tale gleaned from a "mouse-eaten Cuban manuscript" supposedly written by Jos Gaspar's cousin Leon and corroborated with an old map found at a used bookstore, neither of which were made public. He explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. 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. [3][18][7][5], Inspired by the story of Gaspar, the city of Tampa organized a pirate-themed May Day festival in 1904. A fierce battle ensued in which the Floriblanca was hulled several times below the waterline and began to sink. 'Red' Pittman & Queen Anderson Lee Smith, King Richard A. "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.
Gasparilla 2022: What is it and why do we celebrate it? - WTSP 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. And on that legend, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla was founded 100 years ago. Gasparilla faced controversy in the early 1990s for being a mostly white, male event. The Gasparilla Innin 1913]. Gasparilla began in 1904 when Miss Louise Francis Dodge, society editor of the Tampa Tribune, and George W. Hardee, then with the federal government in Tampa, conspired to promote the City of Tampa and its May Day celebration. For men, getting the chance to don a pirate costume and join the invasion could be a very . 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. The disappearance of a Tampa Bay blue blood rattles the skeletons in his family's closet. 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). [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. 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. [21] This tradition was restricted in the interest of safety in 1992 and ended entirely several years later. It's Gasparilla arts season. [3][15][22][1], Since then, many elaborate and often conflicting stories have been told regarding Gmez's alleged exploits alongside Jos Gaspar. [52] Later in 1991, the Krewe of Gasparilla agreed to accept black members and allow more krewes to participate in the parade, and Gasparilla returned for 1992. [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". Gasparilla, the city's most popular annual event, centered around a pirate-themed parade, resulted from a conversation seeking to spice up an existing parade.. It centers on a fictional pirate, Jose Gaspar, and a prominent bunch of Tampa citizens who. [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. 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. [10] The parade has been broadcast live on local television for decades: WFLA-TV has provided coverage since 1955, and WTVT-TV also covered the parade from 1955 to 1980. Were not like Mardi Gras were fun, people are having a great time but its much safer and much smarter, he said. But city leaders have made a lot of changes over the past decade to keep drinking under control. 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. 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. 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. Since then organizers have worked to diversify the festival and include more krewes for all races and genders. King C. Norman Stallings Jr. & Queen Amanda Williams Samson Ph.D. King George M. Steinbrenner III & Queen Tracy Johnson Romano, King J. Eugene Fogarty Jr. & Queen Julia Webb Brabson, King Jack L. Romano & Queen Elizabeth Grace Quisenberry, King William T. Branch M.D. The legend states that Gaspar terrorized the western coastal waters of Florida in the late 18th to early 19th century. So they wanted to have this thing that could maybe draw people from outside the city to come into Tampa for a couple days and have a party.. 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.. 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. [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. [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. 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. Gasparilla Island is a barrier island just north of the mouth of Charlotte Harbor that is almost 7 miles (11km) long and less than 1 mile (1.6km) across at its widest point. [3][1], Though the brochure presents its "romantic" history of Gaspar as well-established truth, it is entirely fictional. When efforts were made by local leaders and activists to integrate in 1991, the Krewe of Gasparilla canceled that years parade but allowed it in 1992. In 1936, YMKG commissioned Tampa Tribune editor Edwin D. Lambright to write an authorized history of the organization. I cover health care for WUSF and the statewide journalism collaborative Health News Florida. [56] However, due to practical concerns, participation in the Parade of Pirates has been limited to fifty krewes per year, with smaller krewes taking turns on a rotating basis. 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. Thus, Gasparilla was born. Some versions of the story claim that one of the escapees was John Gmez, who would tell the tale to subsequent generations. As of the 2020 edition of the Gasparilla Pirate Fest, the issue was being considered by the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. 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. Over time, the formerly one-day event evolved into a "Gasparilla season" which runs approximately from the beginning of the year until mid-March.
See Gasparilla photos from every decade since the first invasion in 1904 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. 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. "I used to watch it from the rooftops,". Howd you do it? To learn more, read this article. [12] Whether or not the mayor actually "surrenders", the pirates stage a "victory parade" along Bayshore Boulevard. But Westcott, who has never missed a Queen's Party, fails to attend his own coronation . [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 Story of Gasparilla, booklet, 1946. The story of Gasparilla and his pirates has lent a certain flair of mystery and adventure to Florida's West Coast since the late 1800s. 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. [27][22][23] His tall tales were usually shared in very informal settings during fishing trips and hunting expeditions and are only documented in a few personal accounts in newspapers and magazines and in his obituary. "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? 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. [Photo by the Burgert Brothers. 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. 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. [18][7][3][16], And while rumors of mysterious maps and gold coins have prompted professional and amateur treasure hunters to conduct many searches for Gaspar's lost cache over the years, there has been no documented recovery of any part of his plunder or the remains of his many alleged victims. Most modern-day Gasparilla attendees picture the large Jose Gasparilla II pirate ship that sails into Tampa Bay each year for the invasion, but that was not built until 1954. "[3], Despite this colorful history, there is no evidence that a pirate named "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" ever roamed the Florida coast. 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. [7][3], Though his story has been retold in many forms since its first appearance around 1900, there is no evidence that the pirate Jos Gaspar existed. [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. For decades, many members of YMKG walked the parade route armed with six-shooters or other handguns loaded with blanks which they frequently fired in the air.
Gasparilla a longtime family affair for YMKG King Richard Chapman [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. [1], While Gaspar is a popular figure in Florida folklore, there is no evidence that he actually existed. Rainy weather helped to dampen the crowds, and the replacement was considered a "flop". [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. Florida Matters wants to include you in our conversations on topics important to the greater Tampa Bay region. PublishedJanuary 22, 2019 at 5:19 PM EST. Subject. 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? 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. How to Participate in Gasparilla; Pirate Login; Open Mobile Menu. [17], In 1949, Fort Myers author Jack Beater published a mass-market paperback version of the Gaspar legend called The Gasparilla Story. 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 acclaimed art festival that draws award-winning artists from throughout the country is happening March 4-5 at Julian B. Reporters and bloggers, alike, Can the Democratic Party regain strength in Florida?
Gasparilla: Is It Just Like Mardi Gras? | OLLI Connects [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. [37] The mayor of Tampa then surrenders the key of the city to the "pirate captain", and a "victory parade" ensues down Bayshore Boulevard. "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. Several episodes in Gaspar's career first mentioned in the brochure have been repeated and expanded upon in later retellings, including the tale of the "little Spanish princess" and the details of his dramatic demise.
Gasparilla parade will have four generations of one family this year Part of the weekend programming includes the Emerging Artists Program, which provides . 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 . 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.
Special Events Committee - Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla [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. When Daniel Westcott, the newly chosen Gasparilla King of Tampa Bay, Florida, goes missing in 1972, the remaining Westcotts are thrown into chaos. Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, partying at Gasparilla can get pretty rowdy. [37], Crowd size for the Parade of Pirates is typically about 300,000, making it the third largest parade in the United States, and an estimated 1,000,000 people attend at least one Gasparilla event in a given year. In 1988, the Parade of Pirates was moved to the first Saturday in February to make it easier for residents of other communities to take part in 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. There is actually one example of when a ship wasnt totally empty of its cargo and that cargo was livestock pigs and chickens. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Letsgetstarted. 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. Alcohol has long played a role in Gasparilla, as it has with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans. 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. More than a century. [33][34][35] However, upon examination, experts at the Tampa Bay History Center determined that the box contained several non-precious old coins, souvenirs from early Gasparilla parades, and a plat map from the 1920s with local streets, businesses, and landmarks from that time clearly depicted. [31], The Sant'Yago Illuminated Knight Parade (sometimes referred to as the "Gasparilla Night Parade") has been organized since 1972 by the Krewe of the Knights of Sant'Yago. 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? Lane Riverfront Park along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. [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. [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. [52] However, in 2018, the city did not change the regularly scheduled date of the parade to avoid the NHL All-Star Game and related activities, which were held at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa over the same weekend. [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.