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Gasparilla parades postponed until April due to COVID-19

Posted at 2:19 PM, Nov 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-24 14:19:11-05

Tampa's famous Gasparilla parades have been postponed until April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Out of an abundance of caution and after consulting with healthcare providers, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) and EventFest have announced that they will postpone Tampa's signature Gasparilla Parades to a later date in the spring. They say the decision resulted from an ongoing dialogue between event organizers, city leaders and healthcare experts.

The new dates are Saturday, April 10 for the Children's Parade and April 17 for the main parade.

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"Safety is our most important responsibility," said Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla Captain Peter Lackman. "In the public interest of restricting events that bring large numbers of people to our community, we have made the difficult decision to postpone. We look forward to celebrating with our mateys safely and responsibly this April."

By mid-April, Thomas Unnasch with USF Health predicts the Gasparilla events will be safe for the thousands of people in attendance if an effective vaccine is successfully distributed.

“Most of the people are probably going to be already exposed or have been vaccinated," said Unnasch. "That creates social distancing for you already if 80% of the people are already immune. The number of people who are susceptible are fewer and far between and it’s much more difficult for the virus to spread.”

Tickets for both parades are on sale here.