Thousands invade Tampa for the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival

(27 Jan 2024)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4475178
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampa, Florida – 27 January 2024
1. Various of pirate ship coming into the bay
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Collins, Gasparilla attendee
"Basically the legendary José Gaspar stormed Tampa Bay and took over the city. And that's basically the lore of Gasparilla."
3. Wide shot of pirate ship arriving
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Collins, Gasparilla attendee
"So we're up here at the convention center that we go every year for the invasion, where the José Gaspar II, the boat, comes in, storms the beach, and all the pirates come out, pummeling out, and takes over the city and the mayor surrenders the key to the city."
5. Crowds by pirate ship
6. Various of pirates on ship
7. Mayor handing over key to the city to pirate
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8. SOUNDBITE (English) Eliza Villapando, Gasparilla attendee:
"This is my first Gasparilla, and I heard about it when I first got here, and I'm like, oh, I was looking so forward to it. And I prepared and I'm just having so much fun
9. Various of crowds in downtown Tampa
10. Boats with pirate flags
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11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eliza Villapando, Gasparilla attendee:
"There's so many people here, everyone's so dressed up as pirates, and I just love the spirit of it. It's awesome, it makes me want to go 'Argh'"
12. Man playing violin along river walk
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Tommy O'Connor, Gasparilla attendee:
"I think that is like, one of the most exciting parts of something like this, is just seeing the entire community come out and the entire- I don't know, we're all here doing the same thing. I don't know, we're all here doing the same thing. Everyone looks a little silly, but we're all here having a lot of fun, and that's what matters."
14. Crowds standing on bridge
15. People taking selfie with pirate bear
16. Wide of pirate ship and bay
STORYLINE:
Revelers clad in pirate finery packed Tampa’s waterfront Saturday as a flotilla of boats arrived for the city’s annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest.

Led by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the invading pirates docked to make a final demand for the key to the city.

Once ashore, the festivities celebrating their annual invasion included an afternoon parade through downtown and live music.

A fixture nearly every year since 1904, the Gasparilla Pirate Fest is named for the mythical pirate Jose Gaspar. There’s not much evidence he actually existed, but according to legend he plundered ships and captured hostages in the Gulf of Mexico from the 1780s until around 1821.

The colorful account of his supposed life first surfaced in the early 1900s in an advertising brochure for the Gasparilla Inn, which was located south of Tampa in Boca Grande at the end of a rail line and in need of an exciting promotion.

Called the “Last of the Buccaneers,” Gaspar’s memory lives on in the name of Tampa Bay’s NFL team.

Video by Bargfeld

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