Every Halloween weekend, Gainesville, Florida plays host to an incredible music event, known simply as “The Fest”. A punk rock Music Fest organized by No idea records.
What is the fest?
As written on their site- “THE FEST is a culmination of bands and friends from all over converging for a few days of pure insanity all over the fine city of Gainesville, FL”
I found this description online as well- “One of the main differences between The Fest and other music events catering to similar numbers of bands and ticket-holders is that the bands have, and continue to perform across as many as 12 relatively small local venues in the downtown Gainesville area, as opposed to a large open-area setting with one or two ‘stages’ like most music festivals. This enables The Fest shows to retain the club/basement atmosphere of any other gig you might expect to see the bands at, keeping performances intimate and befitting of the scene they are associated with. With this system there are a high percentage of clashing performances at any one time during the weekend, requiring each attendee to develop a finely-tuned ‘schedule’ in order to see the maximum number of bands per day, taking into account travelling time between venues, potential queues for popular shows and of course, adequate drinking breaks.”
Gainesville Fl. is a semi small city hovering over 114,000 residents, and is the home to the University of Florida, the 2nd largest school in the state. The students, faculty, and the Florida Gators have an obvious presence in the community, and thankfully, the Fest is scheduled during an “away” game for the Football team, and fans….
This is a band list, and map, for the weekend, too many bands to try and catch them all…. you get the idea.
Tubers, from St. Augustine, playing at the Kickstand, A DIY Bike Coop Style Venue.
Minneapolis, Minnesota based Off with their Heads, at the Venue!
Boca Fiesta…
veggie hot dog cart.
To Be continued…….
Check www.thefestfl.com to learn more.
