Marvel star and six-time WWE® world champion, Dave Bautista will serve as Grand Marshal for the 2020 Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest on Saturday, January 25. The announcement, made today by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa and EventFest, also introduced Lt. Travis Maus, of the Tampa Police Department, as this year’s honorary community hero.
“Dave Bautista and Travis Maus represent some of the best in our Tampa Bay community,” said Captain Richard Champman of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. “Each year, Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla selects accomplished individuals that shine a spotlight on our city and give back to others. Both of these gentlemen exemplify these traits and we look forward to welcoming them in the 2020 Gasparilla Parade of Pirates.”
The 2020 Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest, scheduled for Saturday, January 25 in Tampa, will feature the Gasparilla Invasion and Parade of the Pirates presented by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, and the Gasparilla Pirate Fest Street Festival presented by Bud Light Seltzer.
Beginning at 2 p.m., Bautista and Maus will lead more than 103 parade floats, 50 krewes, five marching bands and the infamous Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla pirates down a four-and-a-half-mile parade route along Tampa’s famed Bayshore Blvd.
“It’s very exciting to have Dave Bautista as the Grand Marshal for Gasparilla,” said Steve Bonner, President, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa. “It’s a great way to honor a true champion before he is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April as part of WrestleMania® Week, right here in Tampa.”
Bautista starred as ‘Drax the Destroyer’ in the 2014 Marvel feature Guardians of the Galaxy opposite Chris Pratt, Benicio Del Toro, Bradley Cooper and Zoe Saldana. The film follows an unlikely cast of characters, including an American pilot and a group of ex-cons, who join forces and go on the run to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 premiered in May 2017, adding Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone to the cast. The blockbuster grossed over 863 million dollars at the box office. The Guardians have since joined the Avengers in Avengers; Infinity War, which opened April 2018 to the highest-grossing opening weekend in history. The fourth installation of the Avengers franchise premiered in April 2019 with Avengers: Endgame, which became the highest-grossing film of all time with over 2.79 billion dollars.
Bautista is currently shooting the second season of the Apple TV series See starring opposite Jason Momoa and can be seen on March 13 in the family action film My Spy. Bautista is a 2020 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee.
Bautista will be joined by community hero Lt. Travis Maus as the Gasparilla Parade’s Community Hero. Maus has been a member of the Tampa Police Department for almost 20 years. Before being promoted to Lieutenant, Maus was assigned as the Detective Sergeant of the Crime Gun Intelligence Squad in the Violent Crimes Bureau. A member of the US Army Reserve for almost 15 years, Maus is a Senior Instructor Pilot on Blackhawk Helicopters and is currently a Chief Warrant Officer 4 with Alpha Company, 5-159th.
During his latest deployment to Iraq where Maus and his company, the “Ghostriders,” successfully flew several hundred missions in and out of five different countries in the Middle East, Maus was promoted to Lieutenant with the Tampa Police Department by Chief Brian Dugan. This is the first time in the recorded history of the department that a promotion was made during a military deployment.
According to Maus, his greatest accomplishment in life is his family and he would not be able to serve his community, both locally and abroad, without their sacrifices. Maus and his wife, Jessica, have been married for more than 14 years and have three beautiful daughters, Olivia (11), Lillian (10) and Vivian (5). The great honor of being selected as this year’s Community Hero belongs to all of the Maus girls just as much as it belongs to Travis.
“Travis has dedicated himself to the protection of others,” said Chief Brian Dugan. “Whether it is the local community as a member of our Police Department, our nation as a member of the US Army Reserve, or most importantly to him as a husband and father – Travis looks out for others. As the Chief of Police, I look for qualities that will make for a great leader for the future of our agency. Travis exhibits these qualities in his military and civilian roles. This made my decision to promote him to the rank of Lieutenant during his most recent deployment a very easy decision. I am glad to welcome Travis home safely and officially present him with his Lieutenant badge.”
Ticket packages are available for the Seminole Hard Rock Gasparilla Pirate Fest. To purchase, visit GasparillaTreasures.com. You can also follow the Gasparilla revelry on social media @GasparillaTampa.
