Once again Gainesville’s Fest will be on the last weekend of October, with over 300 bands at over a dozen venues all over downtown Gainesville.
And in pursuit of the good times that that many bands provide comes the other part of the equation that makes the Fest what it is—people from all over the country (and world) who spend the money to come here. A wide variety of people, and they seek their favorite bands, discover new bands, seek out old friends, and find new ones, too.
This is the sixteenth year for the Fest, and Gainesville No Idea Records pulls it off by harnessing the power of volunteers, hundreds of them, to assist at the many venues, or in the case of the Bo Diddley Plaza, create a venue with fencing, gates, tents, a stage, and sound set up, all of which appear 24 hours before the show and are gone less than 24 hours after the last notes are played.
The Civic Media Center has a unique role as an acoustic venue, not the loud rock that predominates the Fest, but mostly acoustic acts or, in some cases, bands or performers from electric bands playing acoustic, usually high energy but acoustic.
On Friday, eight performers or bands, and on Saturday, 14 performers or bands will be performing at the CMC. Walk up admissions are $10 per day, and that is a freakin’ bargain.
CMC gets great, fun-loving crowds, travelers from far and wide who prefer what the CMC offers, and … here’s the pitch, come on out, you Gainesville people who want to take advantage of what we have to offer. These are well-established performers, sequential 30-minute sets; if someone isn’t your cup of tea, go hang out in the courtyard, and then come back in for the next. D
Below is the schedule; if you go to the website <wwwwthefestfl.com> and find the CMC listing and click on each performers name, you can see a video of them in action. That goes for all performers at the Fest at all the venues. Check it out. This is a well-organized operation that No Idea does, and the CMC is very glad to be part of it.
Did I say food and drink will also be available on site? Uh yup, I just did. Come Fest with us! Oct. 27 and 28. And who knows, we may do something Sunday, too. D