TAMPA, Fla. — You can’t think of Tampa Bay without Gasparilla! Pirates have been invading Tampa for the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival since 1904.
With thousands of people flooding the streets with pirate accents and eye patches, 10News evening social media anchor Aubrey Jackson saw it all for the first time last year.
To get the perfect look, she turned to local expert Tiger Lee, who owns Pirate Fashion in Tampa to help give her a full makeover -- Gasparilla style.
“This time of year, we get crowds and crowds of people, wanting us to convert land lovers, into authentic-looking pirates," Lee said. "There's basically only two things about Gasparilla.
"There are the pirates in their outfits and the beads that they throw.”
The 2019 Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa Gasparilla Pirate Fest kicks off on Saturday, January 26.
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival begins Friday, Jan. 25, when the pirates of Ye Mystic Krewe dock the Jose Gasparilla and head to Tampa City Hall to demand the key to the city from Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
Once swiping the key, the pirates will celebrate Saturday with the Parade of the Pirates down Bayshore Boulevard.
RELATED: 10 things to know about Gasparilla
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