Thousands of little pirates celebrate in Tampa during Children’s Gasparilla Parade
TAMPA, Fla. - About 150,000 people gathered on Bayshore Boulevard for the annual Children’s Gasparilla Parade.
It is one of the country's largest events for children, according to the city.
READ: Gasparilla 2024: Everything you need to know about the annual pirate festival
"We have thousands of little pirates out here that are going to save our city from those gnarly adult pirates, but really just a great time for our community and for everybody to come out and celebrate," said Mayor Jane Castor. "It’s more focused on the kids with the air show, the coast guard was out here the fireworks later but also just allowing kids to participate in the parade too. It’s always a lot of fun to bring kids along with you and experience being part of the parade."
This parade is a little more tame than the invasion that will take place next weekend, where nearly 500,000 people are expected to attend as long as the weather is nice.
The city says safety is its number one priority.
"The safety, security is paramount for any event that we do, and we will have next Saturday close to 2,000 officers from 30 agencies working to ensure a very safe event," Mayor Castor shared.