Throughout the last decade, Chewy Hemphill’s fall festival has been a lifeline for folks who don’t have the scratch or enough time off to make it to Gainesville for Fest. Hell, his Pre-Fest even outlasted the pre-fest that Fest itself tried to do in Ybor City.
For its 10th—and sadly, final—outing Tampa Bay Pre-Fest takes over Bradenton’s Oscura where more than a dozen bands literally from across the world will join regional and local punk outfits looking for more gigs a few miles from North Florida.
“What started with some friends bands and some international bands looking for a show before Fest in 2015, evolved into an actual event the following year at Lucky You Tattoo in St. Pete,” Hemphill wrote in a text to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “As it grew, venues changed and closed, and survived a pandemic, 11 years it comes to an end at Oscura in Bradenton. After 164 bands, performers, and wrestlers from 20 different countries and 24 different states later, in the end we did something. I might do a small show with bands before Fest again, but there’s no plans for any bigger event like Tampa Bay Pre-Fest.”
Highlights on the lineup include power-pop bands from Chicago and Nashville (Time Thieves, The Dreaded Laramie, respectively), New York post-hardcore quartet Common Sage, and St. Louis punk group Vallencourt.
If you can’t make it across the Skyway Bridge, Deviant Libation in Ybor Heights is hosting Festers (Tiltwheel, Panthro U.K., United 13, Too Many Daves) on Tuesday, too.
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UPDATED 10/16/26 3:56 p.m. Updated with comment from Hemphill.
This article appears in Oct. 15 – 21, 2026.