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Tampa, Fl (AP) – The Pirates of Jose Gaspar have once again taken over Tampa and does not pay to fight them it is best just to join in the party. The annual invasion is underway and plenty of fun is on tap for the next week.
The more than 100-year-old tradition will begin at 2 p.m. at Bay to Bay and Bayshore. It will move along Hillsborough Bay into downtown Tampa. The parade will travel into downtown over the Brorein Street Bridge, turn north on Ashley Drive and end at Case Street and Ashley Drive in the Cultural Arts District of Tampa.
According to the Weather Channel, today’s high will be about 62 degrees and be partly sunny. Cool but not uncomfortable weather to take in all the fun.
Here is what is going on today.
• Jan. 26,11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: Pirate flotilla sails into Seddon Channel.
• 2 to 5:30 p.m.: Gasparilla Parade, along Bayshore Boulevard from Bay to Bay Boulevard north into downtown Tampa, ending at Ashley Drive.
• 9 a.m.-9 p.m.: Live music will be on four stages along the Riverwalk, at MacDill Park, the Sail Pavilion, Curtis Hixon Park and Ferg’s Live.
• Sunday 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Gasparilla JazzFEST in Curtis Hixon Park.
JAZZFEST: New music option
This year brings an all-new Gasparilla JazzFEST on Jan. 27 in Curtis Hixon Park. With live entertainment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., JazzFEST is family friendly and free to attend. There will be several vendors and food trucks on site with a variety of brunch options.
Headliner Najee is smooth-jazz royalty, a Grammy-nominated saxophonist with chart-topping albums. He performed at Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration in South Africa in 1998, at the White House for President Bill Clinton and spent three years touring with Prince starting in 2000. Jeanette Harris and Althea Rena open from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by Najee from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. and Omari Dillard closes the day from 3-4 p.m.
