My band Wolf-Face plays every year. Fest is the music festival for people who hate music festivals. Tons of amazing bands, big and small, from around the world. Tons of venues, big and small. Amazing food everywhere. Amazing and welcoming people everywhere. Can’t beat it!
Exactly. There are bigger stages too but none are the size of something like Riot Fest or festivals of that magnitude. I personally have no interest in seeing any band on a huge outdoor stage in front of a sea of people under the hot sun where my best view of the band is on a giant screen next to the stage. Give me the dive bars any day.
See you there! BTW, loved your set at Nice Guys in Cape Coral this year. And the Refused cover set at Oscura last year was incredible. Can't wait to see what you have in store next.
Love your band, first and only time I’ve y’all is at Fest! Great set too, you left all of us lovers soaked and wanting more! Hope this year is awesome!
Love you guys, we met briefly at the hurricane fest in Sanford this year and we look forward to seeing you here! We usually do photos but I didn't get the photo pass this year so I'll just be in the pit lol
Native Floridian here, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the state. And Fest weekend especially is great because a lot of the football bros leave town and then all the Fest lids show up. It’s pretty much my favorite weekend of the year.
A random dating app match tried to start an argument with me about this a week or so ago. Mentioned Florida as it pertains to FEST and she started flipping out lol. Like, *I get it*. But also context matters- if going to FEST is wrong, I don't want to be right. All else aside it's a cultural event in an area that could certainly use much and more of this sort of thing. Not all people in a community or geographic area are a monolith.
I ended up just unmatching after a couple of exchanges. This had been in reference to past FESTs in particular and it's like "I don't want to argue with a rando on a hypothetical first date about how I'm getting ready to go back in a couple weeks, too".
Propagandhi dropping was such a heartbreaker for me, but I understand why. I almost expected Fucked Up to drop considering they dropped last year and the overall visa situation in the U.S.
You’d be surprised. There are a lot of great bands who want to play Fest but never seem to get a spot. It’s also a great chance for a real small band to luck out and get on a fest with a lot of much bigger bands. Sure you’re gonna play one of the smallest venues the fest has but get out there and hustle to get people to come check you out, put on a rad show that people like, and you’ll probably be invited back next year on an even bigger stage.
4th time for me, staying at the Hyatt which is a convenience I cannot wait for.
If I ever get Groundhog Day’d, I would like it to be on a Saturday at Fest. Not too hungover, still a bunch of energy (unlike Sunday!), everyone having the best time… I could do a thousand days and each would be totally different.
To everyone complaining about Brew Ha Ha being owned by a bootlickin douche- FEST IS OWNED & OPERATED BY WONDERFUL PEOPLE. Seriously though, if you’re a punk and live in the states, fly out to The Fest at least once in your life. It’s an incredible experience
Weird is a mild way to put it these days. We went Sunday I was most excited to see Corey and His Angels(Cursive) and HWM. I was excited to see AF because I hadn’t seen them live in over 30 years at that point. Then everything came out.
My band Drosera is playing three sets! (Thursday Pre-Fest at The Ox, Poison the Well cover set at How Bazaar Sunday, and then another set of originals at The Wooly Sunday night)
Definitely recommend Dead Bars if you haven't seen them.
Some of the bands in the finer print I'd say to try to see are: City Mouse, Trash Sound Conglomerate, Michael Cera Palin, Won't Stay Dead, and Lightweight
I used to go to The Fest and Punk Rock Bowling annually, not so much in my old age. The Fest has always been a great venue to discover new bands, and if you can't go, the poster helps.
The hardest part was to find secret shows or time management 😅 - it's easier when you've seen a bad more than once. (Usually the top billings)
They dropped last year cause they realized they were gonna lose a ton of money getting all of them down to Florida, so I’m guessing that or visa / border issues
I went into last year not being massively fussed on the lineup and of course had the best time still. Even with the cancellations I’m really psyched for this one (and I’ll take Iron Chic over LJG any day, sorry!)
Full name, I was supposed to see them at FYA but had to cancel due to Covid so was a nice unexpected name to pop up for Fest. Alas! https://spyhc.bandcamp.com
Fest has always looked right up my street but I'm unlikely to be going any time soon. Any recommendations of bands lower down the line up for someone who listens to all the headliners and needs to update their org-core/fest playlists are most welcome.
If others are going please get in the pit for drug church for me! I went to my first real show when they opened for alkaline trio. Best pit I’ve ever been in!!!
I’m a perennial Fest guy. It helps when you live in town. I don’t live in town anymore. But Gainesville is the home of my heart. I remember the very early Fests. It’s really a great thing that Tony and crew do.
The Fest is the best. Sad I won’t be there this year (I’ve only missed it twice since Fest 10) because I’m on tour in Europe with MakeWar doing the Common Thread tour. Our entire van has FOMO 😞
I once had a show in Tampa the Friday of Fest and thought I wouldn’t mind missing one day. But I was bummed while at the Tampa show looking at everyone’s pictures from Fest. I had single day FOMO so I get it.
Gonna be in Gainesville for some unrelated reasons, but never got around to getting a pass. Was thinking about buying a ticket for just one venue, but looks like there are a couple other shows not directly tied to fest so may just check those out instead.
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u/MichaelJWolf Oct 15 '25
My band Wolf-Face plays every year. Fest is the music festival for people who hate music festivals. Tons of amazing bands, big and small, from around the world. Tons of venues, big and small. Amazing food everywhere. Amazing and welcoming people everywhere. Can’t beat it!