Arrrrgh! Pirate enthusiasts got a taste of Cayman last weekend at Gala Parilla, a party hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Cayman Islands Tourism Association, Cayman Airways and the Pirates Week committee.
Held at the Cuban Club, a national landmark in Ybor City Tampa, the event was held the night before the annual festival of Gasparilla. The carnival style event is a 107-year old Tampa tradition, which sees some 400,000 people flock to the streets for a pirate invasion, parade, brunch and street festivities.
The event aimed to promote the Cayman Islands and in particular Pirates Week to the 60 odd pirate krewes who attend Gasparilla annually.
Ensuring attendees got a true taste of Cayman, local band CayBand featuring NRG played upbeat soca music throughout the night and partygoers were able to feast on Caribbean style fare, such as jerk chicken, rice and beans and plantain. Big screens featured highlights of Pirates Week and popular tourism sights to visit in Cayman.
Adding a frisson of excitement four vacation packages were given away throughout the night, along with treasure chests of rum. In true Pirates Week fashion, there was also a costume competition for the best dressed pirate and wench.
Promoting Cayman
To ensure the event ran smoothly, members of the Department of Tourism, Cayman Islands Tourism Association, Cayman Airways and the Pirates Week committee were all represented at Gala Parilla. In addition, Premier McKeeva Bush attended to show his support.
The Premier said it was exciting to be involved in promoting Cayman and Pirates Week.
“I think what we are doing here is fantastic,” he said. “Everyone has done a great job. Events like these are a great thing for Cayman as they promote our Islands, our culture and our heritage, everything we have to offer. We are getting the word out about our beautiful Islands. Already we have the equivalent of one plane load of new tourists booked to visit Cayman.”
He added: “We have everyone here to promote Cayman in the best possible light. It is an excellent example of what we, Cayman, can achieve when we all work together.”
Stephanie Phillips, Tampa, Florida, area travel agent, was at the event to welcome attendees and help promote Cayman. She said the event enabled her to make numerous bookings for this year’s Pirates Week festival.
“Within 24 hours of the Gala Parilla event I had several krewe leaders request reservation forms for their entire membership. It’s about communication and the krewe leadership individuals who attended Gala Parilla will be the key to spreading the Pirates Week festival message.
“There are more than 60 krewes in the Tampa area with membership that extends to over 5,000. Just getting the word of an upcoming event to krewe leaders is an important first step.
“With more than nine months until Pirates Week, it’s exciting to know that we already have over 100 residents of Tampa with confirmed reservations, ready to travel to the Cayman Islands. My goal is to fill every plane seat available ready to travel from Tampa to Cayman to join the festivities. Gala Parilla went a long way to making it possible to achieve that.”
Important contacts
One of the event’s main organisers, Pirates Week Festival Director Bernie Bush, said that he had the opportunity to talk to krewe members, make all important contacts and learn more about how he can work to make this year’s Pirates Week festival the best.
“The event went well. It has opened the doors to bigger things and shown us how we can get more bang for our buck, which is important in these economic times. The event was especially well received by the krewes. They were impressed. Already I have had numerous emails from krewe members asking questions about Pirates Week.
“We are looking at doing something next year to continue the momentum as there are more than 12,000 people in this area alone whose hobby it is to attend pirate themed events. We want to continue to reach out to them. In particular, our research has shown that these people have expendable income. These are professionals. These are the type of people we would like to attract.
Attending the whole event, we were able to learn a lot and garner a lot of new ideas to make Pirates Week more exciting for people to take part in.
“In addition, as a direct result we already have one charter booked and we know for sure that all our regular flights will be full for Pirates Week. One krewe has already booked 100 rooms at one of hotels for this year’s Pirates Week.”
Pirates Week
Tampa resident Shelia Ryan – a member of the Ye Loyal Krewe of Samuel Belamy – was tasked with coordinating the event in Tampa. A long-time attendee of Gasparilla, she attended Pirates Week for the first time last year as a parade judge. She said the event created a flurry of excitement around Cayman and Pirates Week.
“Gala Parilla was the Cayman Islands’ first foray into the pirate world of Tampa Bay and it came out a winner. We received many compliments on the quality of the event, in particular Cayband, which everyone couldn’t stop raving about. I personally thought they were the best band I had ever heard at any event.
“Many also told me they were extremely touched that the Premier of the Cayman Islands would take the time out from his busy schedule to attend an event in Tampa that was directed at the pirates and their krewes.
“I think the event overwhelmingly achieved its purpose to inform Tampa about the wonderful Pirates Week Festival that is just one hour and 20 minutes from them by air. I believe this is the opening of the tap and Tampa pirates will begin to make the Cayman Islands their annual pirate destination.”
Gina Matthews, public relations manager at the Department of Tourism, added that the event has many benefits beyond simply promoting Cayman.
“Not only do we increase visitation to the event but by attracting pirate krewes we are actually increasing the participation in the actual landing and festival and therefore increasing the quality of the festival and pirate landing at the same time. It all means good things for Cayman.”
CayBand NRG delight at Gala Parilla
Local band CayBand featuring NRG took their first trip off island as a band to play at the inaugural Gala Parilla event.
The eleven-piece band played their official first gig at last year’s Pirates Week and bought the same energetic performance and soca rhythms with them to the stage in Tampa.
The band includes Brent McLean and his son Kam “Sketch”, Vashti Bodden the 2011 Pirates Week song contest winner, Angie Manderson and Shari Espeut. The back-line included Jeff Japal on keyboards, George Jones on keyboards and samplers, Glen Scott on guitar, Winston “Bugs” Wilson on bass and Wayneroy Randal on drums.
Band manager Clive Rosteing said the band is a blend of some of Cayman’s top performers.
“The band comprises a little of everything, some female singers, some male, some veterans and some youngsters. It’s a very good blend of Cayman’s best performers.
“It was quite an experience for the band as a whole. Getting to do this gig was a big deal for us. The band had the audience dancing, waving rags, whining and generally having a great old time. At the end, the crowd was begging for more. From all reports, the band was well received and we hope to repeat the event next year.”
For more pictures of Gala Parilla and Gasparilla visit Facebook pages CaymanLife and Cayman Islands Pirates Week.
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The Premier said it was exciting to be involved in promoting Cayman and Pirates Week.
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