gasparilla childrens parade
It’s that time of year again - pirates will be invading Tampa Bay soon for Gasparilla!
The Gasparilla Children’s Parade will be held this Saturday, January 20, 2007, from 3:30pm til 6:30pm. It takes place along Bayshore Boulevard, following the same route as the Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates. It will begin at Bay to Bay Blvd. & Bayshore Blvd., proceed north along Bayshore, and end at Watrous/Orleans Aves. & Bayshore (approx. 1.4 miles). You can purchased reserved general admission seating in an assisgned bleacher section for $12 per person. The seating is first come first serve on the daye of the event, but you must have a ticket.
The name and foundation of Tampa’s traditional Gasparilla Carnival come from legendary pirate Jose Gaspar, “last of the Buccaneers,” who terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th century. Gaspar, given to calling himself “Gasparilla,” served as a lieutenant in the Royal Spanish Navy for five years until 1783 when, upon seizing command of a Spanish sloop-of-war, he with his fellow mutineers set sail for the Florida straits. And so the young Spanish aristocrat-turned-pirate began an adventurous life as outlaw of the sea.
If you’ve never been, the children’s parade is quite a bit tamer than the adult event, and it is alcohol free.
