New Gasparilla party joins the lineup

TAMPA -- The Gasparilla season, and the bundle of parades and parties associated with it, keeps growing.

This year, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla has big plans to add a new public party at the Channelside entertainment complex on Feb. 9, two weeks after the Gasparilla pirate invasion and parade through south Tampa.

It's actually the revival of a tradition not seen in Tampa since 1963: the Gasparilla Triumphant March and Outbound Voyage, in which the pirates return the city to the mayor and sail off amid a flurry of cannon fire and pyrotechnics.

The Krewe will dock its ship at the wharf at the Tampa cruise ship terminals about 4:45 p.m. on Feb. 9 and march from the Florida Aquarium to Channelside, organizers say. After an hour or two of revelry, Mayor Pam Iorio -- who surrenders the key to the city to the pirates before Gasparilla Day on Jan. 26 -- will demand it back. The pirates will then march onto their ship and sail off to their next event, a private party at the Tampa Yacht Club.

Cannons staged on Channelside's roof will fire, and fireworks will begin. The public will view the show from the wharf, which the Tampa Port Authority will open for the event.

At Channelside, music and daylong activities will start at noon that Saturday and continue into the night with DJs and bands after the pirates sail off.

"The place is going to be totally decorated to the hilt,'' said Guy Revelle, owner of Splitsville, Stumps Supper Club, Howl at the Moon and Tinatapas, all at Channelside.

At the Florida Aquarium, kids 12 years old and under who dress as pirates will get in free all day.

The event changes the traditional Gasparilla schedule. The Krewe of Sant'Yago Knight Parade will take place Feb. 16, a week later than usual. And the new event follows a recent pattern of adding or beefing up Gasparilla-related celebrations over a span of weeks. The Children's Gasparilla Parade, for example, is now part of the Gasparilla Extravagana on Jan. 19 and features fireworks and bigger crowds.

Jim Tarbet, executive director of Ye Mystic Krewe, said the social club that puts on Gasparilla has been wanting to bring back the "Outbound Voyage" for three years. If it's popular enough, Tarbet said it will become an annual event.

"We're excited to bring it back," Tarbet said.

Iorio is excited too.

"I'm happy to take the city back," she said. "I always ended up with the city back anyway."

- Alexandra Zayas and Janet Zink, Times staff writers