Five individuals stand together with their arms around each other on a brick-lined rooftop during sunset. The group is dressed in a mix of casual styles, including green trousers, a red satin jacket, and a copper-colored jumpsuit. In the background, a sprawling city skyline featuring several skyscrapers is visible under a clear, pale blue sky.
Mt. Joy Credit: mtjoyband / Facebook

Gasparilla Music Festival’s return has a soundtrack.

Indie-rock band Mt. Joy, college party guys Two Friends, and jam-rock icon Gov’t Mule are headlining the three-day festival set for April in downtown Tampa.

An email from Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF) said more than acts will be announced soon.

Late last year, GMF announced a return from a one-year hiatus with a three-day festival at a new site: Meridian Fields, near Channelside and in the shadows of old silos from Tampa’s since-demolished Ardent flour mills.

Tickets for Gasparilla Music Festival 2026 happening Friday-Sunday, April 10-12 start at $55 for single-day admission. Three-day GA passes start at $100. VIP tickets start at $135 for a single-day and $245 for a three-day pass.

Gasparilla Music Festival 2026

Time Fri., April 10, 3-11 p.m., Sat., April 11, 3-11 p.m. and Sun., April 12, 3-11 p.m.

Location Meridian Fields, 101 S Meridian Ave., Tampa

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A pre-sale coinciding with GMF’s headliner announcement starts on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 11 a.m. and requires the code “GMF26” to unlock.

Mt. Joy, from Philadelphia, will headline day one of GMF and is still on the road supporting last year’s Hope We Have Fun LP. It has two other Florida shows (April 9 and April 11) set for Hollywood and St. Augustine.

Two Friends, a DJ duo featuring two actual friends Matthew Halper and Eli Sones, will headline day two of GMF and has only two other Sunshine State shows planned this year (at nightclubs in South Florida).
Gov’t Mule, for its part, headlines day three of GMF 2026 as part of a short spring tour that includes an April 11 date at Joe Bonamassa’s Sound Wave Beach Weekend.

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This article appears in Jan. 22 – 28, 2026.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...