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Gasparilla Pirate Fest

Sat 30 Jan – Sun 31 Jan

Coming soon

Tampa's enormous pirate invasion. Nobody should drive home from it, and you won't.

Where: Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa
Leaves: Sat 30 Jan, 6:00 AM
Heads back: Sun 31 Jan, 10:00 AM
Drive: 4h each way
Runs at: 4 of 9 seats

Seats on sale soon

We are getting this one ready. Seats go on sale here first, and the van runs once 4 of them are booked.

Can't wait, or travelling as a group? A charter takes the whole van, on your date, to the door.

Charter a van Other events

Not on sale yetSeats on sale soon

$110.00 a seat

Get on at one of these

FSU Union

Governor's Square Mall

Drops you at

Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa

Know someone who'd come?

Every share is a seat closer.

Last year

What it looks like

10 Tampa Bay's report from the 2026 invasion and parade.

The trip

The pirates take Tampa. You take the van.

Gasparilla has been Tampa's big day since 1904. It starts on the water: the Jose Gasparilla II leads a fleet of hundreds of boats up Hillsborough Bay to the Tampa Convention Center, and the mayor hands the key to the city to the captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. Then the Parade of Pirates rolls, about 140 floats, krewes and marching bands on a four and a half mile route up Bayshore Boulevard into downtown. The festival fills the Riverwalk too, with stages at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and MacDill Park.

The City of Tampa expects more than 300,000 people on the streets. Tampa is four hours from Tallahassee, and that is no drive to make at the end of a day like this one. So we do not make it that night. The van takes you to Tampa, you spend the day with the pirates and the night wherever you have booked, and the van brings you home the next day. Nine seats, one driver, and nobody in your group has to be the one behind the wheel.

0 of 9 seats booked. 4 more seats and the van runs.

A seat is $110.00. Pay now, and if the van does not fill, every cent comes back. It leaves in 137 days.

Photos

The invasion, in its own posts

Gasparilla does not keep a public photo gallery. Its Instagram and Facebook are the place for pictures of the ship, the floats and the crowds, and for news on the day.

No ticket needed

Buy the ride here. The parade is free.

Gasparilla is a free community event. You do not need a ticket to watch the invasion or the parade, and there are plenty of places along Bayshore Boulevard and downtown to see it. What we sell is the ride: from Tallahassee to Tampa, and home again the next day. Your bed for the night is yours to book.

The organisers also sell reserved bleacher and chair seats on the parade route, and a brunch at the Tampa Convention Center where the ship comes in, through Gasparilla Treasures, their own store. All of it is optional, and only they sell it.

Follow it

Gasparilla online

Two days

How it goes

Getting on. Be at your pickup a few minutes early. It is an early start and a long drive, the van leaves on time, and it does not come back for a second run.

FSU Union
Governor's Square Mall

In Tampa. You are dropped in Tampa for the day. The ship can be watched coming in from downtown, Davis Islands and Harbour Island, and the parade from many spots along Bayshore Boulevard and downtown. In the viewing areas on the route, a spot is yours if you get there early and stand in it: chairs and blankets are fine, tents and roped-off areas are not. Outside food and drink, coolers, glass and pets are not allowed.

The night. Where you stay is yours to book, so book it before you book your seat. We do not arrange rooms.

Coming home. The next day the van comes back for you at the time on your booking. Put that time in your phone before the parade starts.

Gasparilla Pirate Fest 🏴‍☠️

Gasparilla Pirate Fest