Gasparilla | Krewes

Whether you catch a doubloon, dance in a night parade, or simply watch the pirate ship sail into the bay, you are witnessing the work of thousands of krewe members who spend all year preparing for one glorious, pirate-plundering weekend. For the most current list of active krewes, parade dates, and membership information, visit the official Gasparilla Festival website or the individual krewe webpages.

A "Krewe" (pronounced "crew") is a social club or carnival organization that plans, funds, and executes the parades and balls associated with Mardi Gras-style celebrations. While most Americans associate krewes with New Orleans, Tampa’s Gasparilla has its own unique, pirate-flavored krewe system that is equally steeped in tradition, secrecy, and philanthropy. Founding and Secrecy The story begins not in 1904 (the year of the first "invasion"), but with a group of Tampa elites. The Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) was formally established to formalize the chaotic early festivals. Modeled after the secretive Mardi Gras krewes of Mobile, Alabama (the birthplace of American Mardi Gras), YMKG adopted a structure of mystery, hierarchy, and allegorical ritual. gasparilla krewes

Introduction: More Than Just a Parade When the legendary pirate ship Jose Gasparilla sails into Tampa Bay each January, it signals the start of one of the largest annual festivals in the United States. The Gasparilla Pirate Festival draws nearly half a million spectators, but behind the beads, cannon blasts, and walking plunderers lies a sophisticated, century-old social organization system: the Krewes . Whether you catch a doubloon, dance in a