GuavaWeen
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Tampa's Halloween Celebration - Guavaween
The last Saturday in October means it's Guavaween in Tampa, Florida. This annual Latin-style Halloween celebration is held in Ybor City and benefits the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce.
Although Ybor City is more famous for its cigars than its guava, the name Guavaween is still fitting. A Tampa pioneer named Gavino Gutierrez tried to grow guava commercially. The Tampa climate and rising land prices doomed the endeavor to failure. However, an unknown local newspaper columnist was successful in planting the idea that if New York is the "Big Apple", then Tampa must be the "Big Guava".
And so it began.
Photo from the Official Guavaween website.
Although Ybor City is more famous for its cigars than its guava, the name Guavaween is still fitting. A Tampa pioneer named Gavino Gutierrez tried to grow guava commercially. The Tampa climate and rising land prices doomed the endeavor to failure. However, an unknown local newspaper columnist was successful in planting the idea that if New York is the "Big Apple", then Tampa must be the "Big Guava".
And so it began.
Photo from the Official Guavaween website.
Great Latin-style Costumes For Guavaween
Which One Would You Wear?
If you don't see yours, add it to the list!
Child's Red and Black Spanish Princess Costume, Small
Includes dress and headpiece. Does not include tig more...0 points
Latin Dancer Costume - Adult (9-10)
Teen/Young Adult: bust 32 to 34", waist 24 to more...0 points
Spanish Dancer Costume
Our Spanish Dancer Costume features an off the sho more...0 points
The Guavaween Story
A Big Costume Party
The celebration attracts more than 100,00 people from all over the world. Party-ers enjoy a full day of fun with events like the Stumble Parade, costume contests, and LIVE national and local concerts. Guavaween Family Fun Fest fills the streets between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. offering exciting activities for young and old alike. Activities include a scavenger hunt, safe trick-or-treating, music, food, rides, contests and the Children's Costume Contest and Parade.
After 4:00 p.m. it's adult time. Mama Guava welcomes her adult revelers and the "Night of Costumed Revelry" begins.
Guavaween is not just another party. This party has a purpose. It is a fundraiser for the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce and helps to preserve Tampa's oldest city.
Photo from the Official Guavaween website.
Kid's Costumes For Guavaween
S.w.a.t. Costume - Child Costume - Small
S.w.a.t. Costume includes shirt, SWAT vest, pants, more...0 points
Mullins Square Lobster Baby Costume
Baby Infant Lobster costume ~ Halloween Costume ~ more...0 points
Rubie's Costume Co. Deluxe Baby Bunting, Mermaid Costume, 1 to 9 Months
Little Mermaid Bunting Costume includes One Piece more...0 points
Scooby - Doo Child's Deluxe Scooby Costume, Toddler
All NEW FOR YOU! DELUXE Scooby-Doo!0 points
Gothic Vampiress Costume, Large
The Gothic Vampiress costume dress is made of real more...0 points
Kids Twilight Vampire Girl Outfit Halloween Costume M Girls Medium (sz 8-10)
Vampira girl This Item Includes Dress with attached more...0 points
Rubie's Transylvanian Vampire Costume
Includes cape, vest, pants, and medallion. Does no more...0 points
Trick or Treat Bags
These canvas trick-or-treat bags are perfect for your child to carry at the Safe Trick-or-Treating at Guavaween.
The Myth of Mama Guava
In 1801, in a steamy grotto where the roots of palmetto trees intermingled with those of the guava (a location better known as Ybor City), Mama Guava was born of a mysterious union between Jose Gaspar and a scrub palmetto. The earth trembled and grunted; dark subterranean waters growled their approval and this girl child swathed in guava paste burst forth into the world.Abandoned by her scurrilous father, the baby lay in the grotto until she was discovered by a young rabbinical student on an exchange program at the convent known in those days as Our Lady of Perpetual Fruit. There, Mama Guava spent her childhood. As she ripened with adolescence, the novitiates found themselves disturbed by the seething intensity of this young girl who was moved at odd times to singing ecstatic choruses of "Guava-Maria" and "Guava-Nagila." Finally, Mama Guava grew tired of boiling her jelly in the closet. With a defiant cry of "I can't get no satisfaction," she fled the convent to make her way in the world and write the Book of Love.
Moving through the murky layers of international subculture over the next several centuries, this lusty creature of the night left legendary exploits that were only recounted in whispers. It is said that an evening with Mama Guava reduced strong men into blithering idiots moaning in their mindless desire for another taste of her fruit. It was Mama Guava who caused Pavlov's dogs to salivate. It was Mama Guava who provided the inspiration for Mardi Gras and Carnivale. It was Mama Guava who taught Janis Joplin to sing. Now, Mama Guava, accompanied by two polar bears she collected in her recent attempt to melt the permafrost in the Antarctic, returns to the place of her birth. She has proclaimed that she will abandon her veil of secrecy to take the "bore" out of Ybor and prove once and for all that the Big Guava is succulent, juicy, and ripe for greatness. Her followers will convene to celebrate her re-emergence on the holiday named for her: Guavaween.
Photo and story copied from the Official Guavaween website.
Funny Costumes For Guavaween
Std Size Adult Deluxe Funny Banana Costume
The Perfect Side-Kick to any Gorilla or Monkey Cos more...0 points
Rubie's Adult ATM Machine Bank of Mom & Dad Funny Halloween Costume (One Size Fits Most)
The Bank of Mom and Dad Costume is made of foam an more...0 points
Funny Scary Mens Halloween Deluxe Frankenstein Costume One Size Fits Most (Up to 48" Chest)
Big Frank This Item Includes Jacket with attached more...0 points
Std Size Adult Lawn Flamingo Costume - Funny Halloween Costume
This is the halloween costume or party costume for more...0 points
Funny Mens Halloween Party Costume Breathalyzer Outfit Adult One Size Fits Most
Perverted Breathalyzer Bodysuit This Item Includes more...0 points
Adult Deluxe Bun In The Oven Halloween Costume
The Bun In The Oven costume includes a tunic shape more...0 points
Funny Adult Halloween Costume Lazy Couch Potato Mascot Adult One Most (46" Chest)
Couch Potato This Item Includes Poly-foam one piece more...0 points
Funny Adult Chicken Suit Mascot Halloween Party Costume Adult One size fits most
Get some major laughs in this giant chicken outfit! more...0 points
The Myth of Papa Guava
It is said that he has always been there. The ancient ones who settled the land around the bay claim to have seen a spirit they refer to only as Guavaloxcl...a strange and large creature who would appear out of nearby swamps each year at the harvesting of the guavas.Unfortunately, Guavaloxcl liked to mingle with the natives. But he carried with him the aroma of old yogurt and chili peppers. To keep him away from the villages, each year at the harvest moon the natives would go to the edge of the swamp and leave a gift offering of guava turnovers and a virgin queen (if one was available).
Centuries later, when the cigar workers came to the land and built their village of Ybor, they soon began to hear rumors of a strange presence who would wander the streets at night. At first they thought it was only the lack of a good sewage system, but thy noticed that it only happened at a certain time of the year.
During that period, strange things would happen in the village-guava pastries would disappear from bakeries, cigars would be missing from the factories and the local women would gossip about a mysterious stranger they met at the cantina who could dance and charm them like no other.
It was on a crisp and clear night in 1887, the night of the full moon that he finally appeared. Striding down the center of 7th Avenue, the great man dressed in gold and green announced that he was Papa Guava, that it was Guavaween, and that his needs had to be met.
Frightened, the citizens began tossing guava pastries and Cuban sandwiches in his direction, but he was not satisfied. Unfortunately, that particular year, there was a shortage of virgin queens and Papa Guava went into a rage, threatening to call out the creatures of the night.
Suddenly, from a second story window, a voice called out, "Hey Big Boy! I got your guavas right here!" It was the legendary Mama Guava, calling down from the pool hall where she had been hustling the cigar workers for their checks and free cigars. And so the famous union was born and Ybor City was saved.
Papa Guava disappeared soon after. It was rumored that he had joined forces with the pirate Jose Gaspar to teach him the art of urban pillaging in the Caribbean. Mama Guava, in a depression, is said to have joined a revolutionary front in Argentina and later was seen in India where she was thought to have fallen for the Maharaja of Bolicheevan.
It would not be until another cool, crisp night in 1983 that a peculiar, slightly familiar aroma, would again sweep down the streets of a dying Ybor City. It was Papa Guava, reunited with the queen of all guavas, back to restore Ybor City to its rightful place with the great cities of the world-celebrating Guavaween-always the last Saturday in October.
Photo and story copied from the Official Guavaween website.
Sexy Costumes For Guavaween
A Bit Risque
Sexy Texy Cowgirl Costume Adult
This cowgirl knows how to hold 'em! Complete costu more...0 points
Nurse Feelgood Adult Funny Sexy Humorous Costume
After hearing how good her patients felt after a v more...0 points
Perky Viking Costume Sexy Funny Costume Halloween
Fur trimmed dress of liquid lame' with breast cones more...0 points
Sexy Stowaway Costume
Be prepared to stowaway and take the sea by storm! more...0 points
Halloween Tacky Traveler Adult Funny Costume One Size
This 'dandy du0' is so tacky you won't believe your more...0 points
New Funny Adult Mens Halloween Big Weiner Penis Costume Adult One size fits most
You're gonna need three shoes for this suit! This more...0 points
Funny Double Occupancy Costume - Adult Std.
FUNNY DOUBLE OCCUPANCY COSTUMEFunny Costumes(Item #HUMR111-AO)Size: more...0 points
Fun World Costumes Men's Mens Frank The Flasher, Tan, One Size
Exhibitionism is no laughing matter... well, unless more...0 points
Funny Adult Halloween Costume Hung Like A Horse Cowboy Adult One size fits most
You'll be hung like a horse! This Item Includes Horse more...0 points
Funny Adult Choking the Chicken Halloween Party Costume Adult One Size Fits Most s
Choking the Chicken This Item Includes Poly-foam Hand more...0 points
The Myth of the Fabulous Guavettes
It was in 1801 when the now legendary Mama Guava was born of a mysterious union between this pirate, Gaspar, and (curiously enough) a scrub palmetto. Gaspar was not the parenting kind, however so the babe was reared in the convent of Our Lady of Perpetual Fruit. There she ripened into a lusty adolescent, and with a full-throated rendition of "Guava-Maria" left the puzzled novitiates behind, heading off to seek her fortune and find a suitable mate.
After a long (long, long) line of lovers, she finally came across a man who was a match for her, Papa Guava, himself.
No one really knows how Papa came to be. It is said that he has always been there. The ancient ones who settled the land around the bay claim that the spirit they called Guavaloxcl would appear each year at the harvest moon to mingle with the natives. Alas, due to the aroma of old yogurt and chili peppers he carried with him, the natives would try to keep him at bay by appeasing him with an offering of guava turnovers and a virgin queen (when available).
Centuries later, when the cigar workers came to the land and built their village of Ybor, they began to hear rumors of a strange man who charmed the ladies in the cantinas. This man was also suspected of stealing guava pastries from the bakeries and cigars from the factories.
Finally in 1887, on the night of the harvest moon, a great (though awful smelling) man came striding down the center of 7th Avenue dressed in green and gold. He announced that he was Papa Guava, that it was Guavaween, and that his needs must be met.
Well there were pastries a-plenty, and cigars, too, but that year there was a shortage of virgin queens, and that sent Papa into a rage. While he huffed and puffed and threatened to blow ol' Ybor down, a voice called to him from a second story pool hall window: "Hey Big Boy! I got your guavas up here." Yes, it was Mama Guava, and thus the famous union was born and Ybor City was saved.
But the story was not over. Not by a long shot. These two carried on like Bonnie and Clyde but only during that harvest time. The rest of the year they were as quiet as could be.
Then on Midsummer's Day in 1995, reports of three beautiful girls were heard all over Tampa town. They were said to carry the sweet smell of fresh guavas and a good cigar, and while they were much more demure than Mama Guava, many townsfolk noted a striking resemblance.
In deed, these beauties, Guavalina, Guavella and Guavetta, are the mythical children of the mythical Mama and Papa Guava. They were born not only to ensure that there would always be a virgin queen alive and well in Ybor, but also to spread the word about their parents' high holy day, Guavaween. Now, all year 'round, throughout the town, in parades and watering holes, alike, those fabulous Guavettes carry the torch for Ybor City's greatest day... and with nothing more than a smile, bring young men to their knees.
Photo and story copied from the Official Guavaween website.
More Costumes
More Tampa Events
Will You Come To Guavaween?
It's A SquidBoo Blast!!
Couldn't resist using your phrase, Bonnie. Hope you don't mind!
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evitaa
Sep 4, 2011 @ 7:01 pm | delete
- Looks like lots of fun.
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sandralynnsparks
Oct 21, 2010 @ 5:24 pm | delete
- This is so cool!
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emmalarkins
Sep 26, 2010 @ 3:02 pm | delete
- Never heard of it, but sounds awesome!
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OhMe Aug 21, 2010 @ 3:13 pm | delete
- I wish I could come to Guavaween. Looks like great fun. I am adding this to the plexo on my Promote Local Businesses and Events lens.
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Pukeko
Aug 19, 2010 @ 6:33 am | delete
- If I lived nearby, I wouldn't miss it. Guavaween looks like a blast!
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rms Aug 16, 2010 @ 6:16 pm | delete
- Sounds like an awesome time!
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nyfamily5
Aug 16, 2010 @ 7:41 am | delete
- Sounds like a great time!!! Would love to go to Guavvaween!!
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Tipi
Aug 15, 2010 @ 3:45 pm | delete
- Guavaween??? ~ Now I think I have heard it all Beth. You sure did make this visit fun!
Nicely done and live your designs.
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partybuzz
Aug 15, 2010 @ 3:05 pm | delete
- Never heard of this...very interesting. :) Happy Guavaween!
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VickiSims
Aug 15, 2010 @ 12:54 pm | delete
- What a unique local celebration! Sounds like fun.
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lou16
Aug 13, 2010 @ 11:30 pm | delete
- Guavaween sounds like a real blast to me too!!!
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bdkz
Aug 13, 2010 @ 9:38 pm | delete
- Congratulations! You've been SquidBoo Blasted. Happy Halloween!
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sandyspider
Aug 13, 2010 @ 7:08 pm | delete
- I love love to go to Guavaween! Nice lens.
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CastleRoy Aug 13, 2010 @ 3:56 pm | delete
- Wonderful lens I would love to go someday. Lens roll to my haunted RI lens
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by bethd821
Hello. My name is Beth and am known as bethd821 here at Squidoo and many other places in the blogosphere. I have diversity in interests and will... more »
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