Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Parade: thumb's up or down?

Bar owners think the annual Knight Parade in Ybor City is great, but other business owners aren't so sure.

By JANET ZINK
Published February 11, 2005

Tampa loves a parade.

The annual bead season begins innocently with the Children's Gasparilla Parade and loosens up one week later with the beer-soaked Gasparilla Pirate Fest.

It culminates with the Krewe of Sant' Yago Knight Parade, which starts as a kid-friendly fest in downtown Tampa and ends 3.5 miles later in Ybor City, where the historic district transforms into a body-baring bacchanalia.

The annual event, set for Saturday, draws nearly 200,000 people, many of whom crowd Ybor City until the early morning hours.

But is it a boom or bust for Ybor businesses?

Some restaurant and retail owners say their cash registers barely ring that night, and the parade only perpetuates the image of Ybor as a mecca for alcoholic excess.

"A Carrollwood family comes here once a year to see a big parade and that's what they have in their mind," said Sara Romeo, owner of Romeo's Studio 1515 Coffee House on Seventh Avenue. "They don't think about coming back there to shop. They don't think about coming to Centro Ybor or the cigar shop or the coffee shop."

Club owners counter that it's one of the best nights of the year and the illuminated night parade is a public relations jackpot that leaves partiers hungry to return to Ybor.

"It's a good night," said Jenna Kosic, manager of Green Iguana.

Sure, there are times when the club is so packed "you feel you're going to fall over in the mob," she said, but everyone's having fun.

Joel Brewer, owner of Empire, said the parade easily draws three times as many people to the dance club as other Saturday nights, and the good time leaves a lasting impression.

"Anybody that's even taken one marketing class knows it's a plus," he said. "It brings people knowledge of Ybor City."

Romeo sees it differently.

"I look forward to it as an individual," she said. But "as a nonalcohol business owner, it does impact us in a negative way."

During the day, she said, people are too busy getting ready for the parade to come to her shop.

At night, they're watching the parade, drinking and begging for beads.

Don Barco, owner of King Corona Cigar Bar and Cafe, agrees it's not good for his business, which does sell alcohol. "I do better . . . on a regular Saturday night."

Two years in a row, partygoers destroyed the neon sign outside his cafe. After the second time, he didn't bother to fix it. He plans to close the shop during the parade but will sell cigars, cigarettes and sandwiches on the patio along Seventh.

Jason Fernandez, owner of Bernini's restaurant, said he'll stay open Saturday night but doesn't expect to sell a lot of entrees. Patrons will more likely drink, occupy tables too long and get sick in his restrooms.

"There aren't a lot of people sitting down and having a nice formal dinner and a bottle of wine at the night parade," he said.

Most business owners say that while one bad day won't make or break a business, the night parade leaves subtle long-term effects.

Tourists continue to come to Ybor, Barco said, but locals often think of it as a party zone or a scary place, which was reinforced last weekend when a woman fell from a bar balcony.

Barco, Romeo and other business owners want to change that perception.

Two months ago, they helped create the Ybor Community Action Network.

"The goal of Y-CAN is to stabilize and diversify the historic district and make it a safe and fun place for all ages," Romeo said.

They want to do that by encouraging all Ybor businesses to adhere to laws regarding noise levels, drinking on the streets and building codes.

It sounds like a tall task for an area dubbed an entertainment district, but they believe it can be done.

"If (Rudolph) Giuliani can clean up Times Square," Barco said. "My God, we're only talking about eight or 10 blocks."

A good place to start might be with the night parade, they say.

"To be able to safely say it's a family event, you need to limit the alcohol consumption on the street, you need to be able to enforce the open container laws," Romeo said. "With a few precautions and changes, it would become more of a family event."

But even with extra forces, there's only so much authorities can do, police Capt. Russ Marcotrigiano said.

Police routinely ask people drinking on the streets to discard their beverages, but arresting everyone standing on the sidewalk with a cup of beer isn't possible.

"We'd be tied up all night within the first hour," he said. "If people are unruly or disorderly, they will definitely be arrested."

Parade organizers, the Krewe of Sant' Yago, maintain the parade has a place for families. It's downtown, where the Family Fiesta has pizza, rides, clowns and pirates making the children honorary knights.

"It's a tamer environment," said Randy Conte, a Krewe of Sant' Yago member and parade co-chairman. "Once we get into Ybor City, it's more of a Mardi Gras setting."

Over the years, parade organizers have tinkered with the parade to help control the chaos. One year, they reversed the direction so it started in Ybor and ended downtown.

They moved the start time up from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., reduced the size and increased the number of parade marshals to keep everything moving on schedule.

This year, organizers will try to make sure all the floats, dignitaries and marching bands have cleared Ybor City streets by 10 p.m.

That should break up the bottleneck that occurs at the parade's end and leave several hours for a less congested street party.

To those who fret that the party is too hearty, relax, says Kosic from Green Iguana.

"Ybor City is supposed to be a place to come out and have some fun," she said. "It's not supposed to be a church-going atmosphere. It's an entertainment district."

Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

The Krewe of Sant' Yago Knight Parade starts with a Family Fiesta from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Florida Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard featuring rides, street performers and free pizza. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. at Florida Avenue and Washington Street and ends on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City. Reserved parade seating is $18 downtown and $20 in Ybor City. Call 353-8108.

[Last modified February 10, 2005, 11:48:06]