Gasparilla 2024: Your guide to Tampa's Pirate Fest
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The José Gasparilla in all her glory. Photo: Jeff Vinnick via Getty Images
Gasparilla, Tampa's take on a Mardi Gras-style street festival, kicks off this weekend, bringing with it a wave of pirate-themed fun but also road closures and parking challenges.
What's happening: Hundreds of thousands, mostly dressed in pirate garb and beads, will gather downtown for our day-long pirate invasion. The annual festival will take place on Saturday, from 9am to 10pm.
- Here's how you can prepare to enjoy — or to avoid — the festivities.
What is Gasparilla?
Zoom in: Gasparilla generally refers to the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, one of the largest parades in the U.S. It starts with a fleet of ships, led by the pirate ship José Gasparilla, sailing up Hillsborough Bay to downtown.
- After docking their ships, they storm the area behind the Tampa Convention Center and demand the mayor give up the key to the city.
Background: The parade traces back to the legend of José Gaspar, an infamous, but probably fictional, pirate said to have terrorized the waters off West Florida in the late 18th century.
- The Gasparilla parade began as part of a May Day celebration in 1904, according to the City of Tampa. The pirates first stormed the city on horseback before taking to the seas in 1911.
What is the schedule?
Details: There's a Gasparilla Invasion Brunch held at the Tampa Convention Center, where you can grab breakfast, sip mimosas and oversee the swashbuckling spectacle.
- It begins at 10am and ends at 1pm. You can purchase tickets here.
- The actual invasion takes place from 11:30am to 1pm. The Gasparilla Parade of Pirates is at 2pm, where nearly 100 floats follow a 4.5-mile route along Bayshore Boulevard.
Which roads are closed?
There will be many street closures before, during and after the festival.
- Much of Bayshore Boulevard and surrounding streets, from Gandy Boulevard to the Platt Street Bridge, will be closed.
Go deeper: A full list of road closures on Jan. 27
Where can you park?
Parking is available throughout downtown Tampa, in garages and on the street.
- The City of Tampa recommends Pam Iorio Parking Garage, Tampa Convention Center Garage, Fort Brooke Garage and Whiting St. Garage, among others.
Where can you drink?
Parade-goers who're at least 21 years old are allowed to openly carry and consume alcohol in designated areas, or "wet zones," along the parade route.
- This year's "wet zones" can be found here.
Of note: No one is allowed to drink in neighborhoods.