Those pesky pirates are invading Tampa again. For more than 100 years, Tampa city leaders have held the signature Gasparilla event to draw visitors with a day of pirates and a parade of buccaneers. It borrows heavily from Mardi Gras,

Pirates are temporarily taking over downtown Tampa to celebrate Gasparilla, an annual pirate-themed festival. Known as the city's "signature event," Gasparilla was named after famed Florida pirate José Gaspar from the 18th century, who went by Gasparilla.

Every year, an estimated 300,000 participants come to Tampa for the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, a mock attack by a band of pirates called Ye Mystic Krewe. The pirates’ plot is simple: storm the shores, take the city’s key, and parade down Bayshore Boulevard.

Gasparilla Pirate Fest has live music at stages located along the Tampa Riverwalk that run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park (at Ashley Drive and Twiggs Street) and MacDill Park (at Ashley Drive and Whiting Street).

The faces of News Channel 8 had some fun on the staton float during the 2025 Gasparilla Parade of Pirates. Barron Trump playfully photobombed his sisters Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump in a behind-the-scenes video from Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 Inauguration.