It was an especially cold morning for those pesky pirates invading Tampa again. For more than 100 years, city leaders have held the signature Gasparilla event to draw visitors with a day of pirates and a parade of buccaneers.

Gasparilla became a time-honored tradition in 1904 after local planners decided to make the legend of Gasparilla into the theme for that year's May Day celebration, said Gasparill

Every year, an estimated 300,000 participants come to Tampa for Gasparilla Pirate Festival, a mock attack by a band of pirates called Ye Mystic Krewe. The pirates’ plot is simple: storm the shores, take the key to the city and parade down Bayshore Boulevard.