As masses of revelers gathered in the streets to be part of the pirate takeover of Tampa's Hillsborugh Bay at the 2005 .phparilla Invasion, the area's political figures, corporate executives, and socialites, as well as select planners, travel promoters, and other V.I.P.s, watched the madness in luxury and comfort from the rooftop deck of the Tampa Convention Center.
Each year, Tampa hosts the monthlong .phparilla celebration to remember how legendary pirate Jose .phpar terrorized the west coast of Florida centuries before. The celebration includes various activities like street festivals, a parade of the pirates, and a pirate invasion re-enacted by the Ye Mystic Krewe of .phparilla. Locals and tourists from around the world flock to this celebration each year.
The Tampa Convention and Visitors Bureau worked with Kelly Duncan of Aramark, the convention center's in-house caterer, to plan the event. She hired conceptBAIT to create a theme that would capture the essence of .phparilla while maintaining an upscale feel for the brunch reception. They came up with a desert island theme filled with color and fantasy.
ConceptBAIT collaborated with Foliage Connection to create a 25- by 25-foot island that served as the center of the space. Guests could roam through the vegetation, which was surrounded by soil. As a matter of fact, grass covered most of the terrace.
The brunch buffet was elaborate. Mimosas were passed by white-gloved waiters, and the meal included carving stations, chilled displays of fruit and cheese, and exotic dishes including elk carpaccio, rabbit ravioli, assorted seafood, mushroom duxelle, and chipolata sausages.
Guests ate at tables dressed with black spandex, seated on chairs covered in the same fabric in eight vivid colors, including orange, red, lime, yellow, and fuchsia. The floral centerpieces matched the color of the chairs and were set atop a base of bamboo poles. Spanning the entire 60- by 60-foot terrace, secured by poles and hooks in the walls, was a huge eight-point sunburst made of gold and orange spandex. Using studio color and intelligent lighting, Bay Stage Lighting created the illusion of fire coming out of the center of the sun.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein
Each year, Tampa hosts the monthlong .phparilla celebration to remember how legendary pirate Jose .phpar terrorized the west coast of Florida centuries before. The celebration includes various activities like street festivals, a parade of the pirates, and a pirate invasion re-enacted by the Ye Mystic Krewe of .phparilla. Locals and tourists from around the world flock to this celebration each year.
The Tampa Convention and Visitors Bureau worked with Kelly Duncan of Aramark, the convention center's in-house caterer, to plan the event. She hired conceptBAIT to create a theme that would capture the essence of .phparilla while maintaining an upscale feel for the brunch reception. They came up with a desert island theme filled with color and fantasy.
ConceptBAIT collaborated with Foliage Connection to create a 25- by 25-foot island that served as the center of the space. Guests could roam through the vegetation, which was surrounded by soil. As a matter of fact, grass covered most of the terrace.
The brunch buffet was elaborate. Mimosas were passed by white-gloved waiters, and the meal included carving stations, chilled displays of fruit and cheese, and exotic dishes including elk carpaccio, rabbit ravioli, assorted seafood, mushroom duxelle, and chipolata sausages.
Guests ate at tables dressed with black spandex, seated on chairs covered in the same fabric in eight vivid colors, including orange, red, lime, yellow, and fuchsia. The floral centerpieces matched the color of the chairs and were set atop a base of bamboo poles. Spanning the entire 60- by 60-foot terrace, secured by poles and hooks in the walls, was a huge eight-point sunburst made of gold and orange spandex. Using studio color and intelligent lighting, Bay Stage Lighting created the illusion of fire coming out of the center of the sun.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein