Football fans had already begun the tailgating party on Saturday night as they gathered outside of Raymond James Stadium and camped out ahead of Super Bowl LV.

Videos posted to social media showed RVs and tents set up as music blared from around 9pm on Saturday night.

Groups of people were filmed gathered around fire pits and set up to celebrate with less than 24 hours to go until the game.

Earlier in the night, a firework show with a pirate theme had continued the celebrations that began on Friday night with a party hosted by rapper 50 Cent.

Fireworks and lasers erupted from a pirate ship anchored in the Hillsborough River in tribute to the hometown heroes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Pictures posted to social media showed crowds gathered on boats to watch the show or packed together on the Riverwalk, many of whom weren't wearing masks despite the city's mandate.

As jovial football fans crowded the streets and bars of Tampa on Saturday with hours to go until Super Bowl LV, hundreds were walking without face coverings through areas where the mayor has issued a mask mandate to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Until this weekend, fans attending the Super Bowl LV Experience theme park along the Tampa Riverwalk have mostly been able to stay socially distant and largely appeared to comply with the mask mandate.

But as Friday ushered in a weekend typically marked by nationwide partying, more fans milled along the narrow Riverwalk in Super Bowl LV's humid host city, some carrying drinks and bumping shoulders as they passed, and many lowering their masks or skipping them altogether.