It's Gasparilla arts season. The Gasparilla parade in 1910 was the last year the invasion was done on horseback. The two most common throws before that were plastic or metal commemorative coins produced annually by various krewes and spent gun cartridges. 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. 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. 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. [3][18][7][5], Inspired by the story of Gaspar, the city of Tampa organized a pirate-themed May Day festival in 1904. [1] (For comparison, Spain had just agreed to transfer all of Florida to the United States for $5 million. Pirates with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla fill up the 168-ft. Jose Gasparilla II for the annual invasion. [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. [17][18], Parade participants on floats and on foot have traditionally tossed souvenirs as they make their way along the route, but the specific items have changed over time. [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. How to Participate in Gasparilla; Pirate Login; Open Mobile Menu. The event was a hit, and the following year, the Krewe organized a parade in which all 60 of Tampa's cars rode through downtown. . [3][45][42], In 1923, author Francis Bradlee obtained a copy of the Gasparilla Inn brochure and, assuming it was factual, included Gaspar in a book he was writing about piracy in the West Indies. Against a colorful backdrop of pirates, family secrets, and intrigue, Susan Wolf Johnson's King Daniel shines as a literary lighthouse on rocky shores. 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. 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. 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. Most stories agree he was an aristocratic Spanish Navy Officer who later. )[13], During the treasure distribution process, a lookout spotted what appeared to be a vulnerable British merchant ship sailing nearby. Some versions of the story claim that one of the escapees was John Gmez, who would tell the tale to subsequent generations. Chapman has taken part in the festivities since he was young. U.S. Census, Monroe Co., Florida, Supervisor's district 18, enumerator's district 118, page 8, 6 July 1880, Florida State Census, Monroe county, enumerator's district 7, page 11, 22 June 1885, U.S. Census, Precinct 7, Lee Co., Florida, 27 June 1900, supervisor's district 2, enumerator district 163, sheet 2. ( 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. [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. Captiva Island was said to be where his captives were held, Sanibel Island was named after Gaspar's love interest, and his home was on Gasparilla Island - "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," it declared. Nashville to Tampa: Hey, nice Riverwalk you got there. 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. Check out this video of a Gasparilla parade from 1959: As the festival grew in size and splendor, so did its role in Tampa society. Kite-Powell said it wasnt always easy to pull off such an invasion by sea. "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? Despite the fact that the Annual Gasparilla Festival started in 1904 to celebrate "Pirate . [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. Attendees are welcome to drink openly along the parade route on Tampas Bayshore Boulevard and surrounding bars and restaurants are packed with people drinking from morning to night. The empty shells were tossed aside as the pirate reloaded, sending children scrambling for the unique souvenirs. "Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla" (YMKG) came together informally to stage the first pirate "invasion" in 1904 and has evolved into a registered non-profit organization which has organized the Gasparilla Parade ever since. The disappearance of a Tampa Bay blue blood rattles the skeletons in his family's closet. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) For Richard Chapman, Gasparilla is a story about family. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. There is actually one example of when a ship wasnt totally empty of its cargo and that cargo was livestock pigs and chickens. This week on Florida Matters, we take a deep dive into the past and present of Gasparilla. [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. [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. Initially, they modeled themselves after the Krewe of Rex and were knights or reflected royalty. Over time, the formerly one-day event evolved into a "Gasparilla season" which runs approximately from the beginning of the year until mid-March. However, African-Americans and others among Tampa's diverse population felt left out of the planning and organization of the events, with some observers questioning the tradition of local elites dressing as pirates and pretending to plunder the city. Though people dressing up in costumes and invading the city may seem like silly fun, the tradition has also played an important role in Tampas high society. [7][3][9], Different versions of Gaspar's legend relate different episodes in his piratical career. Subject. More than a century. Certainly as Tampa was growing in the 1950s and 60s, there was a great desire among new businessmen in the area, particularly people who were new to the area, to become a part of either Ye Mystic Krewe or join Palma Ceia Country Club or Tampa Yacht Club, so you can become established in society, but also in business circles, said Rodney Kite-Powell. 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. [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. 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. [3][2], There is also no physical evidence to support Gaspar's existence. 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. 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. ", "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? The latest news and how to stay informed. [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. [7][3], Other versions of the story state that Gaspar was a nobleman who achieved a high rank in the Spanish Royal Navy and became a councilor to King Charles III of Spain. Planning to attend Gasparilla this year? [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. Sometimes the ships they found werent in great shape, so they would run aground, he said. The History of Gasparilla; The Legend of Jose Gasparilla; Gallery; Calendar; Participation. Gasparilla Pirate Fest officially consists of three primary events: [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. 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. Rather than surrender, Gaspar supposedly wrapped an anchor chain around his waist and leapt from the bow, dramatically shouting "Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's!" On Sanibel Island a conference was held by all the pirates, and with the exception of Gasparilla, Baker, Caesar, and Old King John, all sailed away to be heard of no more. 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. [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. 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. On Saturday, pirates will once again storm downtown Tampa during the annual Gasparilla invasion. And as a result of some of those things, the police presence and the fact that weve restricted the amount of mixed drinks that you can just bring along the parade route, weve seen arrests go down to less than a dozen, he said. 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. [1], While Gaspar is a popular figure in Florida folklore, there is no evidence that he actually existed. Chapman serves as the King for Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla this year. 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. Courtesy of Dan Barnes / Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. 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. [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. Two other major parades during this time are the Gasparilla Children's Parade, which is held on Bayshore Boulevard one week before the main parade, and the Sant'Yago Illuminated Knight Parade, which is organized by the Krewe of the Knights of Sant'Yago in the historic neighborhood of Ybor City two weeks after the main parade. [3][1], Though the brochure presents its "romantic" history of Gaspar as well-established truth, it is entirely fictional. "[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. When Daniel Westcott, the newly chosen Gasparilla King of Tampa Bay, Florida, goes missing in 1972, the remaining Westcotts are thrown into chaos. [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).
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