TAMPA, Fla (WFLA) — Tampa’s Gasparilla festivities are just days away.
Police are expecting big crowds for the events after many were canceled last year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday morning, you could see chairs, tents, and fences up along Bayshore Boulevard ahead of the Children’s Parade, but there is still more work to be done.
The City of Tampa’s Mobility department will be dropping off concrete barrier walls that will be staged along the parade route to help with safety. The concrete barriers are designed to help protect paradegoers from vehicles and other threats.
This week, law enforcement agencies, fire departments and other organizations met for hours to talk about their public safety plan and how to respond to situations that might arise during the festivities.
“If something comes to our attention we know how to react, who will take responsibility for certain things, how the communication levels will work. So, there is a ton of different aspects that go into this table top exercise so when it is game day and it does happen there are no questions as to what the response it,” said Tampa Police Interim Chief Ruben Delgado.
The Gasparilla Children’s Parade will be held on Jan. 22. The main Parade of Pirates is scheduled to take place on Jan. 29. You can watch the parade on News Channel 8 and WFLA Now beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.
The city will send out maps and advisories along with useful information to anyone who texts “Gasparilla” to 888-777.
