The Tampa Bay area celebrated Guavaween right this past Saturday. Just over 20,000, donned in costumes from the hilarious to downright disturbing, meandered through the streets of Ybor City to be a part of this wild, Tampa Halloween celebration.
A number of Tampa krewes and their motorized floats were back in action for the awesome Mama Guava Stumble Parade. The results for the top parade floats were as follows:
- First Place - Krewe of Zingaro
- Second Place - Savtira Corporation
- Third Place - Ye Krewe of the Freebooters
- Best in Theme - Super Krewe
For 2011, there were many changes made to the parade along with the motorized floats being brought back. The number of streetside vendors was scaled down to make Guavaween more about the local businesses. With less one-time street vendors, the local restaurants, shops, and bars were able to do more business during the event. There was also an increase in police force which made this one of the safest and most entertaining Guavaween in its time.
Whether you were basking in a nightlife hotspot or roaming up and down the main drag of 7th avenue, we can venture to guess you had, in the least, a pretty good time at Guavaween 2011. We know we did, and have the pictures to prove it. All night long we traversed Ybor snapping some great shots of the celebration and all of you who made it possible.
Check out our free photo galleries from Guavaween and see if we caught you in the action. Find yourself in the galleries and enjoy a complimentary picture from us for being there on this awesome night. There are also photos of the bands like Tonic and Eve 6, photos of the costume contest, as well as the photos of the parade for you to enjoy.
Guavaween felt like nothing short of a fantastic success for the neighborhood of Ybor City and the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, which Guavaween is a fund raiser for the chamber. From the rocking live music from Guavaween bands Tonic and Eve 6, to the all-out amazing costumes in the costume contest, the love for the Halloween spirit was very much alive in Ybor on Saturday. The results from the costume contest are as follows:
- First Place ($1000) - Toy Soldier Trio from Cocoa, Florida
- Second Place ($750) - The Retired Hooters Girls and Chippendales from Clark Lake, Michigan
- Third Place ($500) - The Smurfs With Papa and Smurfette from Cocoa, Florida
- Best in Theme ($250) - Miller High Life Soldier from Maplewood, Minnesota
So whether you want to relive or recall Guavaween 2011 in Ybor City, check out the photo gallery on 813area and make sure you attend in years to come. The Guavaween event is much safer and a fun-filled experience with all the changes made for the 2011 Guavaween and these changes have made Guavaween a top 5 Halloween event in the United States!
