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). [ IVY. 4 generations of pirates take part in this year's Gasparilla parade Taken together, the events of Tampa's Gasparilla Season have an estimated local economic impact of about $40 million.[4]. 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. Here's how to map out your day! 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. However, no evidence has been found to support this claim. 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. Though there is no evidence he actually existed, Gaspar was adopted patron rogue of this new Tampa celebration. & Queen Anne Lawson Kelley, King William L. (Larry) Smith & Queen India Powell Stallings, King J. Rex Farrior, III & Queen Laura Elizabeth Straske, King Gary W. Harrod & Queen Margo Hall Ennis, King Christopher C. Lykes & Queen Courtney Laurens Farrior, King CVII James A. Turner III & Queen CVII Martha Davis Straske, King CVIII Richard McKinley Chapman III & Queen CVIII Caroline Grace Dearing Lackman, Copyright @ 2023 Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - All Rights Reserved |. It returned in 1956 as the Gasparilla Invitational Tournament, an amateur competition which has been held annually ever since. 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. "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? Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Firing loud mini-canons and accompanied by hundreds of private boats, the pirates make their way to the Tampa Convention Center, where they demand that the mayor surrender the key to the city in a playful ceremony. [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. [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. [1], The cover of the brochure featured a blood-dripping color illustration of Gaspar, and the introduction claimed that the tale of the pirate contained therein was gleaned from stories told by the recently deceased John Gmez, who was described as the longest-lived member the crew. 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. European nations began to make a concerted effort to suppress piracy in the early 1700s, and by 1730, every major pirate of the "golden age" era had been killed. "Pirate State (of mind); When bad boys make for good fun: Pirates have shed their villainous image in Florida". The acclaimed art festival that draws award-winning artists from throughout the country is happening March 4-5 at Julian B. [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. 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. The Jose Gasparilla pirate ship is decorated with a banner welcoming the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2020 Stanley Cup Champions, as they return to downtown Tampa on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. 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. Beauty contestants in a 1959 Gasparilla parade. [1] (For comparison, Spain had just agreed to transfer all of Florida to the United States for $5 million. "[3], Despite this colorful history, there is no evidence that a pirate named "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" ever roamed the Florida coast. The landfall of the Jose Gasparilla Pirate Ship and the Children's Gasparilla Parade & Piratechnics display have become tourism icons. But Westcott, who has never missed a Queen's Party, fails to attend his own coronation . "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. Gaspar, Jos, -- 1756-1821. 'Jack' Smith & Queen Gay Dantzler, King Frank M. Frankland & Queen Lynda Helms, King Charles P. Lykes & Queen Joan Henderson, King C.C. [13] In addition to the krewes, high school and university marching bands and drill teams often participate, and many local businesses and organizations build and enter their own elaborate floats from which they also throw trinkets to the crowd. [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. Awosika, Mary, and Mark Zaloude. 2023 Gasparilla Parade Information | City of Tampa in the manner of the buccaneers! [20], Though very popular now, beads were rarely seen at Gasparilla Parades before the 1990s. [30] To add noise to the festivities, the pirate ship Jose Gasparilla usually sails nearby firing its mini-cannons during the parade, and the day ends with a fireworks display over Tampa Bay. Im also committed to holding those in power accountable when they fail to prioritize the health needs of the people they serve. Jos Gaspar's legend is celebrated in Tampa, Florida during the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which was first held in 1904. [3][18][22], Despite his obvious lack of fact-checking, Bradlee's book was used as a source for later works such as Philip Gosse's Pirates' Who's Who and Frederick W. Dau's Florida Old and New, the authors of which also took Gaspar's authenticity for granted. 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. Tampa's most prized tradition was sparked 118 years ago and continues to be shrouded in some mystery. 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. 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. At least a portion of the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates has traversed Bayshore Boulevard into downtown almost since its inception. [21] This tradition was restricted in the interest of safety in 1992 and ended entirely several years later. 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. "[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. Lemoyne described Gmez as a "colorful" eccentric who claimed to have been a pirate in order to sell fake treasure maps to "the gullible" for a "fancy figure". The legend states that Gaspar terrorized the western coastal waters of Florida in the late 18th to early 19th century. Look closely and you can spot pirates on the Jose Gasparilla II in 1959 enjoying some adult beverages as they invade the city. Don't worry, there aren't actually any canon balls inside. [3][2], There is also no physical evidence to support Gaspar's existence. In Tampa, rare Gasparilla beads are the real treasure A look back at the costumes, floats and festivities over the years. The History Of Gasparilla And Its 'Mystic' Pirates Our beautiful one-of-a-kind Veranda Suite is located above the neo-classical entrance to The Gasparilla Inn and offers a luxurious Tempur-Pedic King sized bedroom, 1 and a half bathrooms, a spacious living room perfect for entertaining and relaxing, as well as a private wrap-around balcony facing West, a perfect spot to enjoy the setting sun . [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 explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. We estimate that 9400 Little Gasparilla Is Unit E2 would rent between $3,776 / mo. & Queen Mary Anne Stallings, King Richard S. Clarke & Queen Sue Ellen Germany, King James M. Ingram M.D. 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. Most importantly, if at the end of day, when I talk to the Tampa Police Department and the mayors office, (and they tell me) everybody got home safely, there werent significant numbers of incidents, people had a fun day and we showcased the rich, diverse culture of TampaI am just as happy as I could possibly be that we were able to pull off such an amazing event and that were able to do it year after year without significant incidents.". Rodney Kite-Powell said the first invasion was a huge success. The History Of Gasparilla And Its 'Mystic' Pirates Also, they saw pretty early on that this could be a neat attraction and a neat tourist draw to a city that didnt really have much of a tourist industry aside from the Tampa Bay Hotel and the fact that the railroad did come here. To learn more, read this article. Louise Frances Dodge, who was society editor of the Tampa Tribune in 1904, came up with the idea for the festival with Tampas customs director George Hardee. [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". [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. 1904 - 1920; 1921 - 1929; . "Gasparilla Island" appears on Spanish and English maps made in the early 1700s, and contemporary documents suggest that the barrier island was named for Friar Gaspar, a Spanish missionary who visited the native Calusa in the 1600s. [26] Meanwhile, various contemporary letters and news articles report that Gmez claimed at different times to have been born in 1778, 1781 or 1795 in Honduras, Portugal, or Mauritius. [11] The sails are merely decorative and the "pirate ship" has no engine, so on Gasparilla Day, it is guided through the flotilla of accompanying smaller vessels by three tugboats helmed by experienced harbor pilots. During the parade, members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla along with dozens of other krewes throw beads, coins, and various souvenirs to the throngs from about 100 floats, most of them pirate-themed. [46] The first "pirate invasion" was held on May 4, 1904, and the dates of Gasparilla ranged from February to May over the next few occurrences. 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. [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. To learn more about ChatGPT and how we can inspire students, we sat down with BestReviews book expert, Ciera Pasturel. [38], The theme of the Gasparilla Festival was inspired by the legend of the pirate Jos Gaspar, who supposedly operated off the west coast of Spanish Florida from the 1780s until the 1820s. When Daniel Westcott, the newly chosen Gasparilla King of Tampa Bay, Florida, goes missing in 1972, the remaining Westcotts are thrown into chaos. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Lane Riverfront Park to . Gasparilla 2022: What is it and why do we celebrate it? - WTSP 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 "Gasparilla Festival" became a stand-alone event in 1913, and with exception of hiatuses during the world wars and on two other occasions, it has been celebrated every year since. It's Gasparilla arts season. The award-winning Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns for its 53rd year on March 4th and 5th. [18] In 1913, "Gasparilla Carnival" was organized as an independent event, as it has remained ever since. 'Ted' DeLaVergne & Queen Emala Parkhill, King Lemuel P. Woods & Queen Elizabeth Dawson, King Gordon L. Gibbons & Queen Lucile Trice, King James E. Wall Jr. & Queen Phyllis Turner, King W. Frank Hobbs & Queen Sylvia Corral, King G. Richard Griffin & Queen Louise Lykes, King Henry Weidman & Queen Sara B. Johnson, King David A. Falk & Queen Mary Frances Swann, King LeBron Kinchley & Queen Peggy Van Dyke, King James T. Swann Jr. & Queen Ruth Binnicker, King H. Phillip Hampton & Queen Mary Ellen Cook, King William C. McElmurray & Queen Lucy Ann Forgy, King W. Howard Frankland & Queen Mary Julia Dupree, King Charles G. Baskerville & Queen Shirley McKay, King Gilvie L. Reeves & Queen Patricia Lowry, King Carlton C. Cone & Queen Suzanne Lowry, King John A. [46] The pirate festival took a brief hiatus from 1906 until 1910, when it was revived as part of a community celebration marking the opening of the Panama Canal. Still she refused, and he killed her in a rage (or alternately, because his crew demanded her death). A Treasured History: The Story of Gasparilla, Tampa's Most Prized [3], Similarly, Sanibel Island is said to have been named by Gaspar's first mate, Rodrigo Lopez, after his lover whom he had left back in Spain. Why is diversity the hot issue in Florida higher education? 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. 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.