A pirate parade approaches Tampa

Tampa, arrrghh you ready?

Gasparilla 2024 is here, and we’ll be updating this page with live updates, photos and more all day. More than 300,000 people — including over 50 krewes and a 120-unit parade — are expected to plunder along Bayshore Boulevard. Tampa Bay Times reporters and photographers are sharing everything you need to navigate the festivities — or follow along from home.

1:05 p.m.

Tampa has fallen to the pirates.

The scurvy members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla have stumbled off the Jose Gasparilla ship to demand the key to the city from Mayor Jane Castor.

“I think the cost may be too high. What do we say? Do we give up the key?” Castor asked the crowd at the Tampa Convention Center. “If we surrender, we get a parade!”

She made her decision swiftly.

“We’ll give them the key to the city — but it doesn’t open any doors,” Castor said. “It only unlocks the hearts of Tampa… Let’s have a parade, everybody!”

Cue the cannon fire and get ready to catch beads by the fistful. Next, pirates will load onto their floats and parade down Bayshore at 2:30 p.m.

— Gabrielle Calise

12:55 p.m.

In Tampa, our pirates may be chaotic, but they are still prompt.

The Jose Gasparilla has already docked and will soon start unloading pirates at the Tampa Convention Center — right on schedule. Next, they’ll take over the city.

— Gabrielle Calise

12:42 p.m.

La’kee Goodwin and Quentin Boyd, from Town ‘N Country, are enjoying their third year as pirates at Gasparilla. They moved here from Chicago four years ago and said their old city didn’t have anything like this.

“It keeps us coming back,” Boyd said.

They’ll spend the day people watching and enjoying each other’s company — along with removing more from their costumes as the day keeps getting hotter. According to forecasters from WFLA News Channel 8, it could reach the high 80s.

— Lesley Cosme Torres

12:37 p.m.

The Jose Gasparilla will soon reach the Tampa Convention Center. It’s a dramatic look as Tampa Fire Rescue boats shoot huge sprays of water into the sky while leading the pirate ship into the harbor.

This also serves a safety purpose. Those big arcs of water keep hundreds of private boats away from the front of the pirate ship, which is basically a barge. Three tugboats are used to pull it from the front, push it forward from behind and steer it from the side. One of the tugs, the Dorothy, has been working in the ports of Florida since 1898, well before Gasparilla started. Few notice the tugs doing all the work with more than 1,000 boats and yachts swarming around the spectacle.

— Sharon Kennedy Wynne

12:23 p.m.

Who’s at Gasparilla enjoying this warm weather? Photographer Jeff Woo captured these scenes along the parade route.

11:49 a.m.

Jim Merrick has lived in Pinellas County for 30 years. A Gasparilla veteran, he says a lot has changed: more people and less clothing.

The growth is a good thing, according to Merrick. For one, the celebrations are better organized now. Watching the boats and floats drift down Bayshore while enjoying the weather outside has kept him coming back.

”It’s a little warm this year,” he said. “But I’d rather be warm than cold.”

11:22 a.m.

Check out an early look at the crowd in front of the Tampa Convention Center. These sailors are awaiting the Jose Gasparilla pirate ship, which will launch at 11:30 a.m.

10:55 a.m.

Misty Elliott and Haley Blaire are independent filmmakers and transplants from Baton Rouge, LA. This is the mother-daughter duo’s second year at Gasparilla.

They moved to Tampa in 2018 and prefer the pirate fest to their home state’s Mardi Gras parade.

”The atmosphere here is a lot better,” Elliott, 49, said. “A lot safer.”

Still, Blaire, 22, said they feel at home catching beads and drinking on the Gulf Coast.

10:42 a.m.

For three years, Caribbean Pearle has been the star of the show on a float. She’s helped others with float decorations and costumes “because I’m a professional pirate,” she said.

For her fourth Gasparilla — and final year living in Florida — she’s enjoying the parade as a viewer. Find her strolling around Bayshore Boulevard, taking photos with strangers and making new friends.

10:20 a.m.

Boats are cruising down the Hillsborough River and out to Tampa Bay as Gasparilla festivities begin. Pirate flags are flowing and Bad Bunny is blasting from the speakers.

As swashbucklers filter in, check out the city of Tampa’s Gasparilla marketing video, inspired by “Barbie.”

“We thought we’d swap swords for stilettos,” Castor said via text of “The Barbie Pirate Movie,” which is just under two minutes long and available on YouTube.

— Jack Prator and Paul Guzzo

9:40 a.m.

This is Michael Paine’s third consecutive Gasparilla. The 39-year-old Lakeland resident comes to Tampa often, and the annual pirate fest is one of the reasons he’s stayed in Florida.

Paine hasn’t had a haircut in three years. And while he says his shaggy curls and beard weren’t grown out with the parade in mind, it helps complete the look. He started his day hanging out on the Tampa Riverwalk and didn’t know where the day might take him.

”Gasparilla is about being a pirate,” he said. “So if I had a plan, I wouldn’t be a pirate.”

— Jack Prator

Gasparilla weather

Heading out early to secure your spot on the parade route? Expect temps in the mid-60s and possible patchy fog. It’ll warm up to low 80s as the day goes on, or mid 70s closest to the water.

Read our full weather report here.

Gasparilla Parade and Pirate Fest schedule

Pirate invasion: The day starts with the first sighting of the fully rigged pirate ship Jose Gasparilla — actually a barge dressed up as an 18th century pirate ship that is pulled by tug boats. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the movie-worthy ship with nearly 300 flags and three steel masts standing 100 feet tall will emerge at the south end of Hillsborough Bay with cannons firing.

As hundreds of members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla hang from every fixture of the 165-foot vessel, it will lead a flotilla of hundreds of personal boats and yachts to join the “invasion.” Tampa Fire Rescue boats will spray dramatic arcs of water in front of the ship as it heads to the Tampa Convention Center.

Pirate Parade: The theater continues after the ship docks and those aboard demand the mayor surrender the key to the city of Tampa to the captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. Once they have the key, pirates celebrate by parading through the city starting at 2 p.m. The parade will begin at Bay to Bay and Bayshore boulevards and end at Cass Street and Ashley Drive.

A Pirate Fest will take place along the Riverwalk in downtown Tampa with live music on two stages before and after the parade in Curtis Hixon Park and MacDill Park from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. After-parties will be going on all night in downtown Tampa and Ybor City.

— Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Gasparilla tips

Parking: City garages will charge $20 event parking in downtown garages, and $12 in Ybor and other outlying garages. The free TECO line streetcar will be available from 8:30 a.m.-2 a.m. running between Ybor and downtown. But be aware that some streetcar stations are closed to keep the loop moving faster. HART recommends boarding at Station 2 next to Centro Ybor. See gohart.org for schedules. Also, the free HART bus shuttle service will run 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. to transport people between Ybor City and downtown and also the Channel District and downtown Tampa.

For $4 (cash only or the Flamingo Fares mobile app) you can get an all-day pass for the HART park-and-ride options that take you to the Marion Transit Center, 1211 N. Marion St. in downtown Tampa.

Numerous schools and businesses in the area will charge to park near the parade, usually for $15 to $40 depending on the location.

Alcohol: A large wet zone will be set up along the parade route and in Curtis Hixon Park, stretching from Gandy Boulevard to Cass Street, but open containers are prohibited outside those areas.

Packing list: Sunscreen, water, cash and snacks. Don’t forget hand sanitizer and tissues for the portable toilets.

Bathrooms: There are hundreds of portable toilets lining Bayshore Boulevard and the Pirate Fest, so stay out of the bushes because police officers have no tolerance. You can also use the restrooms at Publix, 243 Bayshore Blvd.; Hyde Park Village on the west side of Snow Avenue; and Kate Jackson Park at Rome and Snow avenues.

— Sharon Kennedy Wynne

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