Gasparilla Pirate Fest 2024

Live Stream Parade, Invasion, Fireworks and Street Festival

Tampa is gearing up for the famous Gasparilla Pirate Fest. The event takes place on 27th January 2024 with the highlight of the event being the Gasparilla Invasion, the staging of mythical pirate Jose Gaspar and his dastardly crew invading the town in their impressive pirate ship.

Once landed, the pirate captain demands the key to the city from the mayor, and then proceeds to lead a celebration parade through the city streets. The festival has unsurprisingly proved especially popular with a younger crowd and attracts an audience measured in the hundred of thousands.

The Gasparilla festival and parade have existed in various incarnations since 1904.

Dates

The Gasparilla Pirate Fest in 2024 schedule:

Children's Gasparilla - 20th January 2024

Gasparilla Pirate Fest - 27th January 2024 from 10am - 8pm

Gasparilla Parade of Pirates - 27th January 2024 from 2 - 5.30pm and starts at Bay to Bay and Bayshore Blvd and ends at Cass Street and Ashley Drive.

Pirate Fest Schedule

The main Saturday 27th schedule of events can be found here. The invasion is set to take place at 11.30am, so don't miss out.

You can buy tickets for the invasion brunch located along the parade route to secure the best views - tickets are available here.

The Pirate Fest includes stages located along the Riverwalk in downtown Tampa. There will be live entertainment both before and after the parade in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, MacDill Park.

The week before the main festival there is also the Gasparilla "Piratechnic" Extravaganza fireworks display over Hillsborough Bay at 7.00pm. This is a part of the Children's Gasparilla Extravaganza that precedes the main festival by 1 week each year.

Live Streaming, Webcams

In previous years there has been a live feed of the main events in pictures and updates provided by the local Tampa Bay Times, we'll have the link for this year's event as soon as it becomes available.

The parade is typically broadcast on local TV by News Channel 8 (live coverage from 2.30-4.30pm) which you can also watch online here:

News Channel 8 live stream

The fireworks display is usually broadcast live by local TV channel WTVT Channel 13, which you can also watch live here

There are also several live webcams placed in and around the area, and excellent and often overlooked way to get an alternative perspective on the various festival events:

Tampa webcams

Hotels and Accommodation

If you are looking for accommodation in Tampa and the surrounding areas during the Gasparilla Festival then you can expect to pay an inflated premium thanks to the popularity of the event and the fact that many people head to this part of Florida for the winter sunshine generally.

It is recommend therefore that you make your reservation well in advance if you can.

You can check availability and make reservations for local hotels here.

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