You may picture the invasion and parade when you think about Gasparilla, but there's another big impact beyond that: a community fund helping support students with scholarships.
Standup comedian Bert Kreischer, a Tampa native, and World War II U.S. Army “Buffalo Soldier” Roy J. Caldwood, age 101, will be featured during the Gasparilla Parade of Pirates, Tampa’s signature event, on Jan. 27. Kreischer, a Tampa native, was once dubbed Rolling Stone’s “Number One Partier in the Nation.” He was also a 2023 Pollstar top-grossing standup comic and the recent motion picture .