It isn't just Gasparilla, it's the 100th Gasparilla, and today's festivities in downtown Tampa will again draw tens of thousands of revelers.
The celebration got underway Friday night with a party and concert at Curtis Hixon Park and continues today with the main events: the traditional "Invasion" and the Parade of Pirates.
Visitors to the Bay area call it the best party on the east coast.
"It's a blast," said Brian Hollinger who flew to Tampa from Pennsylvania. "His parents moved down here 9 years ago and found out about it. We were already doing the pirate thing at Ren Faires."
Things got underway with the Invasion Brunch at 10 a.m. at the Tampa Convention Center, and the Flotilla and Invasion started at 11:30 a.m.
When the pirate ship Jose Gasparilla docked at the convention center at 1 p.m., Mayor Bob Buckhorn handed the key to the city to the captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla.
The parade started at 2 p.m. at the intersection of Bay to Bay and Bayshore boulevards. Thousands lined the streets as the parade marched down Bayshore to Brorein Street, turning east Brorein and then north on Ashley Drive. It ended in downtown Tampa at Cass Street and Ashley Drive.
"You can't experience it anywhere else," said Tampa resident Darlene Scott.
And the merriment doesn't end with the parade. The Gasparilla Invasion Stage in MacDill Park (Whiting and Ashley streets) will have music until 10 p.m.
Tampa's first Gasparilla invasion actually occurred in 1904, but the event was skipped 10 times because of World Wars I and II and a membership controversy. Today's invasion is the 100th.
Wondering about the weather? Well, it looks good. There's no rain in the forecast, and although it will be breezy near Tampa Bay, afternoon temperatures will be mild, according to Bay News 9 meteorologist Josh Linker.
Links to information about road closures, parking and more can be found in the box on the right. Bay News 9 will have live reports on the hour.