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To help ensure that only fun seekers attend Guavaween, security will bar backpacks and other large containers.
By BABITA PERSAUD
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 27, 2001
TAMPA -- Yes, the attacks on Sept. 11 have affected Guavaween.
In addition to the standard perimeter patrols, Guavaween officials this year will confiscate at the gate all backpacks, large packages, large bags, coolers, cans, bottles and anything that resembles a weapon or could be used as a weapon.
Nearly 100,000 people attend the annual Halloween street bash in Ybor City.
"With attendance in these numbers, security has always been our No. 1 concern and priority," said promoter Teresa Cox Hickey.
Now in its 18th year, the annual Latin-style, costume party takes over an enclosed 28-block area of Ybor's commercial district all day today. All the favorites return, including daytime kid activities in the Family FunFest from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ninth Avenue and 19th Street. The cost is $2 and costumed children get in free.
Highlights include a scavenger hunt at noon and scary story time at 2 p.m.
Then, at 4 p.m., the adult fun starts and admission is bumped to $10.
The Mama Guava Stumble parade starts at 6:30 p.m. at Seventh Avenue and 20th Street. The parade, led by a tropical Mama Guava and her stumbling followers, heads west on Seventh Avenue and then north on 14th Street to Palm Avenue.
The national acts coming to Guavaween this year are teen pop singer Mandy Moore, Lifehouse (current hit: Hanging by a Moment) and Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad fame.
Bus service runs all day, beginning at 10 a.m. for the kids' events, from the Florida State Fairgrounds (enter off Orient Road between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Hillsborough Avenue) and the Tampa Port Authority (1101 Channelside Drive).
The cost is $5 for adults; kids ride free.
Afternoon bus service begins at 4 p.m. from five locations and costs $6. A $15 round trip ticket that includes admission is also available. The last bus leaves Ybor at 3 a.m.
Pickup locations:
Britton Plaza -- Dale Mabry Highway and Euclid Avenue, South Tampa.
Florida State Fairgrounds -- Take the Orient Road exit from Interstate 4. Enter the fairgrounds between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Hillsborough Avenue.
Tampa Bay Center -- Himes Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, West Tampa.
Tampa Port Authority -- 1101 Channelside Drive, near Ice Palace.
USF Sun Dome -- 4202 E Fowler Ave., USF Tampa campus.
For information call the Guavaween Hotline: (813) 242-4828. Or check out: www.cc-events.org.