Krampusnacht in Ybor

Idea number 68 in Re/Creating Tampa: 101 Ideas for Making Tampa a Better City comes with its own short story to help build the myth of Krampus in Ybor.

I think Ybor should have its own Krampusnacht celebration in December, but technically there’s no connection between Ybor and Krampus. To solve this problem I invented a myth that has Krampus regularly visiting Ybor at the end of the nineteenth century.

Tampa already has the invented Jose Gaspar to serve as inspiration for the annual Gasparilla festivities, so I’m sowing seed in some already well-tilled ground.

You can read an earlier post about Krampusnacht here.

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068: Krampusnacht Celebration in Ybor

Tampa and Ybor City already have some great celebration events, from Gasparilla to Guavaween. Why not another? As far as I’m concerned, we need as many excuses to play dress-up and wander from bar to bar as we can find. To that end I recommend that Tampa adopt Krampusnacht as a local celebration.

Krampus is Santa’s evil twin and is celebrated in some Scandinavian countries. There’s almost no cultural reason for Tampa to adopt Krampusnacht, but that shouldn’t stop us from joining in on the fun and creating our own Krampus-by-the-bay legend. Just as community leaders created Gasparilla out of whole cloth, I give you . . .

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The Legend of Krampus in Ybor

Once upon a time Santa had a helper. Not like an elf working in the toy shop, or one of his reindeer, but someone who traveled with him and visited boys and girls around the world. His name was Krampus.

For many years Santa gave toys and treats to all the good little girls and boys, and Krampus gave coal to all the bad little children. Krampus wasn’t handsome and jolly like Santa but looked more like a scary monster. Sometimes he would frighten the children.

Santa and Krampus both felt it was important to remind bad little children that no good would come from their wickedness. There are no treats for the naughty.

And after Christmas both Santa and Krampus would take a vacation. Christmas is hard work!

For many years Krampus would take his vacation in Ybor City. Krampus loved palm trees, cigars, and the warm winter weather of Florida.

Though Krampus looked like a scary monster, he was good friends with Vicente Martinez Ybor, and Mr. Ybor always made sure his friend was welcome when he arrived. Even though Krampus looked scary, he never did really liked scaring the children. He did it because he hoped it would teach them to be good little boys and girls.

After Krampus’s first few visits, seeing that people were still afraid of him even though he was actually very nice and friendly, Mr. Ybor had an idea. If everybody looked like a monster, nobody would mind Krampus. And so began Krampusnacht in Ybor City.

In the week leading up to the day after Christmas, in addition to the Christmastime parties, Ybor began holding Krampus arrival parties. These parties were for grown-ups since it was good for children to remain scared of Krampus. At these parties everyone would wear their scariest masks and drink and smoke cigars in anticipation of Krampus’s arrival.

And then, when Krampus arrived on December 26, they’d hold a huge party to welcome him to Ybor City.

For many years Krampusnacht was famous in Ybor City for its revelry and fun. Some old-timers remember their parents talking about it, but very few people alive today remember Krampusnacht since children weren’t allowed to attend. If a child learned that Krampus was a nice and gentle old elf, he or she would never be afraid of him and wouldn’t stop doing naughty things throughout the year.

Eventually Krampus got tired of being the bad guy. While he still thought it was important to remind naughty children that their wicked ways would have consequences, it was hard for someone so kindly to be constantly scaring the children who actually delighted him so.

And so after a final Krampusnacht in 1919, Krampus decided to retire. He built a home in the Andes mountains, where he still lives today. He no longer scares children and secretly gives them many gifts of toys and candy.

After Krampus retired there were a few more years of parties, but they just weren’t the same without him, so they eventually stopped. Regardless, there are some of us who still believe we should celebrate Krampusnacht on the night after Christmas to remind us all that sometimes monsters aren’t as scary as they seem.