TAMPA – The Gasparilla Pirate Fest was on Saturday, January 30, 2016 and had a huge turnout this year with the crowd reaching around 250,000, however, things remained rather calm considering the number of festivalgoers.

With the recent terrorist attacks across the globe, extra security measures were taken to ensure everyone's safety. We can thank the entire Tampa police force, about one thousand officers and 21 other agencies for all of their help making it a safe and fun day.

Some people, especially out-of-towners were surprised at the level of organization, and how people were drinking freely in the streets. The police were strict about underage drinking, but for those who were 21 and older, they were allowed to drink in public so long as they stayed in the "wet zones."

Considering how successful the event was, it ended in a relatively low number of arrests this year. The final numbers were released this morning by the Tampa Police, which reported a total of 23 misdemeanor arrests and 2 felony arrests – not bad considering there were so many people.

Gasparilla 2016 Arrests

The felony arrests were for 1) battery on a law enforcement officer, and 2) aggravated battery with an active warrant. The remaining 23 arrests were for misdemeanors, including but not limited to:

• Possessing marijuana (4 arrests)
• BUI, or bicycling under the influence (3 arrests)
• Disorderly conduct (3 arrests)
• Underage DUI (3 arrests)
• Resisting arrest without violence (3 arrests)
• Battery (1 arrest)
• Possessing a synthetic drug (1 arrest)

According to Tampa Police, the day went smooth without any major incidents. Despite the bad traffic after the festivities, most of the people would say that the event was absolutely perfect.

If you were arrested at Gasparilla or another similar festival, contact a criminal defense attorney for a strong defense!