Awash in spectators, swashbucklers, beads

Fair weather threatens to blanket the streets of Tampa with hordes of Gasparilla funseekers today.

[Times photo - John Pendygraft] Andrew Jones, 14, a patient at Tampa General Hospital, reaches for beads being handed out by the Krewe of Zingaro on Friday. The Krewe gave patients an early taste of Gasparilla, which will fill the streets today.

By PATTY RYAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 2, 2002

GASPARILLA 2002 Lots of Gasparilla goings-on Yo ho! The pirates are here! All 700 of them. Yo, ho, ho! Invading they will go A tough band of ruthless pirates will lay siege to Tampa today. After a brief but spirited defense, the city is expected to surrender and get on with the fun of capture.

TAMPA -- Need some time alone? Stay away from Bayshore Boulevard.

With nary a drop of rain in the forecast, with afternoon temperatures languishing in the comfortable 70s, Tampa's annual Gasparilla parade today promises to be a people magnet.

"It should be a great day," said meteorologist Dave Rittenberry of the U.S. Weather Service in Ruskin.

Great, at least, if you're amused by bankers and lawyers with wax scars and black teeth, by grownups decking each other in the quest for trinkets, or by gridlock on ordinarily quiet neighborhood streets.

Great if you like music. The party starts at 10 a.m. with a festival on Ashley Street and quickly spreads to four stages in downtown Tampa. Better than Ezra, Uncle Kracker and the Wholigans are among groups scheduled to perform.

And great if you'd like to catch a glimpse of visiting New York City firefighters, among invited participants in the parade.

Regulars know the routine:

The Jose Gasparilla, a pirate ship built on a barge, docks at the Tampa Convention Center about 1 p.m., carrying a payload of invading swashbucklers, who soon take to the streets to celebrate.

City surrendered, the Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates begins to roll about 1:45 p.m., starting from Bayshore Boulevard near Howard Avenue. The 3.5-mile procession moves north toward downtown Tampa, over the Platt Street Bridge, east along Channelside Drive, north along Florida Avenue, then east on Jackson Street to Marion Street.

Nearly 100 floats and bands are expected.

Also expected: enforcement of a new city ban of glass bottles on the street.

Spectators who bought $48 Gasparilla Invasion Brunch tickets (now sold out) can watch the invasion from tables alongside Seddon Channel, while gorging on Plant City strawberry pancakes. Those who bought $18 parade seats (also sold out) won't need to fight the Bayshore Boulevard crowd for a peek.

But for thousands of others -- perhaps 400,000, planners estimate -- the parade will be a shoulder-to-shoulder mob of mayhem.

Here's the entertainment lineup:

• Curtis Hixon Park Stage (Ashley and Zack streets): 10 a.m.-6 p.m., radio station music and personalities; 6-6:30 p.m., DJ Structure; 6:30-6:45 p.m., China Dolls; 7-7:45 p.m., Mpress; 8-8:15 p.m., Toya; 8:30-8:50 p.m., City High; 9:20-10 p.m., Uncle Kracker.
• Ashley Stage (Ashley and Madison streets): 10 a.m.-5 p.m., radio station music and personalities; 5-5:30 p.m., Dreamtime; 6-6:20 p.m., Transmatic; 6:45-7:45 p.m., John Mayer; 8:15-9:30 p.m., Better than Ezra.
• Gasparilla Invasion Stage (Bayshore Boulevard and Platt Street): 10 a.m.-noon, radio station music and personalities; noon-2 p.m., Bush Hounds; 2-4 p.m., radio station music and personalities; 4-4:45 p.m., Supernatural; 5-6:15 p.m., the Wholigans.
• Gasparilla Super Tailgate Party (Florida Avenue and Brorein Street): 10 a.m.-5 p.m., radio station music and personalities.

- Patty Ryan can be reached at 226-3382 or pryan@sptimes.com.

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