Every year, an estimated 300,000 participants come to Tampa for 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 key to the city and parade down Bayshore Boulevard.

Tampa, Florida kicked off the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival on January 25, with pirates invading the city in full costume after sailing into port on a ship. Beginning in 1904, the event is a celebration of mythical pirate José Gaspar,