Gasparilla Children's Parade 2013 aka Family Time

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Gasparilla Children's Parade.

What in the what is Gasparilla, you say? Well, it's a pirate festival. I am proud to call Tampa my home, our yearly festival... is a PIRATE FESTIVAL!!! It doesn't get much cooler than that, you guys.

During the main Gasparilla event, there is an actual invasion, with a true to life pirate ship and the Mayor of Tampa handing over the keys to the city to the Pirate Captain. It's hard NOT to get excited over these things...

But this 'main' parade is generally and historically full of drunken debauchery and public nakedness (as it should be when pirates invade), so we go to the family friendly Children's Parade held the week before the invasion. There are still pirates and beads and loud music and coins, but without the public intoxication and debauchery.

To me, it means sitting on the grass on Bayshore Blvd. holding our ground in the hour or two leading up to the parade. In the waiting time, we've got the seabreeze, the awesome January Florida sun beaming down on us, $6 funnel cakes and each other. Then the parade starts, the kids wave and jump and scream for the 20 tons of beads we will carry back with us home. It means kids on parents' shoulders so they can get a glimpse of the pirates. And it means parents trying hard to duck and block the projectiles (beads) coming right at us and our toddlers. Before we know it, the 2 hours of parade is over, we are headed home exhausted and that means pizza for dinner. Mmmmm.

It's memories, it's adventure, it's fun and it's FREE! Arrrrr!

This is NOT a sponsored post (but it should be).

What is your town's yearly festival?

<3, Tabi :D