The Fest has announced dates for its 18th annual Gainesville punk-rock bacchanal (November 1-3), but buried in the announcement is what appears to be a death knell for Ybor City’s beloved Pre-Fest celebration.
The two-day party — which brought dozens of punk bands to the historic district for six years — gave Fest-ers a chance to ease into the big show, and locals unable to get weekends off a chance to taste the revelry. It was also a midweek boon for the bar owners who were able to get some traffic into their venues during traditionally slow days. Pre-Fest, presumably, was also a monstrous task for Fest organizers and volunteers, and attendance has definitely been tapering off over the last few years.
CL has reached out to the festival for comment, but organizers revealed the bad news today when a commenter asked, “No pre fest!?” on Facebook.
“Not this year,” the page replied, which prompted another user to ask if the move might just be a hiatus.
“Nah, pretty sure it’s dead. Sorry!,” Fest wrote. “Lots of ‘unofficial’ pre fest shows happen in Florida though, plenty to do! We’ll keep everyone updated.”
Christian Costello of Lucky You Tattoo and Bay area promoter Chewy Hemphill are just a couple of good people to know when it comes to finding those unofficial pre-Fest shows.
We’ll add more details as they become available.
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This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 7, 2019.