Calling all pirates, privateers, and swashbucklers to the Henry B. Plant Museum! Dive deep into the history of Tampa’s oldest and most fun-loving community festival. Climb aboard this exhibit and explore the uncharted waters of more than 110 years of parades, pirate invasions, coronation balls, and more. Gaze at vintage photographs from 1904 to the present, see memorabilia including invitations and pirate tokens, and marvel at gowns worn by Gasparilla queens and members of their courts. Gasparilla: A Tampa Tradition sails until March 3, 2024.  
Visitors can also enjoy film coverage on the celebration.  "Memories of Gasparilla Festivals" includes scenes from the 1920s and reveals pirate capers and images of early parades.  This film is from the private collection of the Howell family. It is narrated by John Boushall, III; H.L. Culbreath, Jr.; L.G. "Ted" Delavergne, Jr.; Jerry E. Fogarty; George B. Howell, III; Fred R. Martin, III; Mary Alsbrook Smith and Frances Thomas Toole.  Film footage from Joseph V. Reineman describing the life of a pirate on Invasion Day will also be shown continuously.
 
Over the years, the original Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla has been joined by dozens of new krewes (social clubs), all of which contribute to the general merriment and community pride of the occasion.