Gasparilla Music Festival debuts new venue this weekend—here are the best photos from its time at Curtis Hixon Park

Whataboutmomma won’t be the only group watching the past move into the rearview this weekend at Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF).

Organizers at GMF—a nonprofit led by volunteers along with less than a fistful of paid staffers—have a gargantuan task ahead of them, too, as they prepare to make a home at a new venue.

The festival—which launched on a prayer and with the backing of core “Ring of Fire” members—debuted at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and Kiley Garden in 2012. It was bold in its audacity to compete with others in the festival space, but clear-eyed in its simple mission to celebration everything supporters loved about Tampa.

The profile of headlining acts has only grown over the years from Ra Ra Riot in the inaugural outing, to bands like Dr. Dog, The Meter Men, Flaming Lips, Trombone Shorty, Modest Mouse, Gogol Bordello, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Brandi Carlile, Stephen Marley, Avett Brothers, Gary Clark Jr., Cage The Elephant, Father John Misty and countless others.

(See photo highlights from Gasparilla’s 12-year run at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park at the bottom of this post.)

The festival even expanded to three days in 2021.

But as previously reported, the City of Tampa cited “water intrusion issues” in a 2021 evaluation by Walter P Moore engineering firm when it did not issue permits for GMF to use Kiley. Not including retrofitting for a new drainage system, the firm estimated the probable cost of the base repair recommendations for Kiley at $9 million-$11 million.
[content-1]Barring some kind of miracle, it does not look like GMF will return to that part of downtown anytime soon. Even if a philanthropist footed the bill to repair Kiley, there is a movement to turn it back into a space for sitting, not a green space that’s used for a music festival.

Last spring, without Kiley in its quiver, GMF staged a two-day party across a stretched-out festival footprint.

The lineup of more than 40 bands were spread out on stages at Curtis Hixon but also the Straz Center, Sparkman Wharf and Tampa Convention Center. The adaptation marked the first time the festival left park grounds since 2016, when it used MacDill Park, also just a short walk from Kiley.

But 2023’s day one headliners, including Run the Jewels and Chromeo, got rained out.

The 2024 edition offers a chance to bring GMF back to one address. And while you could almost use a slingshot to hit Julian B. Lane from GMF’s longtime home at Curtis Hixon, so much will look different.

The University of Tampa’s minarets aren’t the backdrop for the mainstage; instead 2024 GMF festival goers will get the Straz Center and downtown Tampa skyline.

GMF’s Executive Director David Cox also told CL that Julian B. Lane mainstage can accommodate closer to 10,000 people versus the 8,000 or so that could pack into The Curt. That creates more room for people, and it means an expanded ticket capacity, too.

“There’s a pretty significant size difference there. But we think it’s great; in the big picture, that gives us a lot more space for more activations, and more bars, and just lots more fun things,” Cox added. “We were really constrained with the amount of space we had at Curtis Hixon.”

GMF’s new map also takes advantage of Tampa’s largest downtown park, which has already played host to large events like the NFL Experience before Super Bowl LV in 2021, Tampa Pig Jig, Margarita Festival and the beloved Gasparilla Arts Festival. This will, however, be the first serious music festival to activate the 25-acre space that reopened six years ago after serious renovations.
[content-3]Julian B. Lane is home to four stages for GMF 2024, including a mainstage in the southeast corner of the park closest to the river. There are also stages near the park’s state of the art boathouse, a “Fortune” stage on the football field, and a stage near the park’s south west entrance near N Boulevard.

The festival’s popular silent disco, happening Friday and Saturday, is also back on the schedule along with a Kids Fest on Sunday complete with family friendly activities like face painting, free tye dye shirt-making, an instrument petting zoo, the Tampa Bay Rays’ DJ Kitty, and more.

As usual, each day will see GMF babies on the grounds in the daytime before sitters come to pick them up so that parents can party at night.

GMF’s outdoor food hall—Calle Cocina, which has traditionally featured the best of Tampa’s culinary palette—is set to take over the southern strip of the park, too.

CL will miss the simple joy of eating a Clam Master Jay shrimp roll this year, but some highlights on the 2024 culinary lineup at GMF include Filipino restaurant Lucky Tigré, longtime Seminole Heights favorite Nebraska Mini-Mart, Big Rays Fish Camp and Loli’s Mexican Cravings.

It’s also wild to think that downtown Tampa dive bar The Hub—thee spot for an unofficial GMF afterparty, complete with cameos from bands like Spoon and even Father John Misty—is just a little bit further away in 2024. (Hooch and Hive, just a block from Julian B. Lane, is a mighty fine plan B.)

Even the music lineup has something of a different flavor this year.

The 2024 slate of artists, like in the past, definitely features GMF must-haves like old school hip-hop with Digable Planets and Goodie Mob. There’s big name Americana with Lake Street Dive, plus roots with Yonder Mountain String Band and blues with Roosevelt Collier and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram. Great tribute acts (Steeln’ Peaches) and a strong local presence up and down the many stages (Pet Lizard, Pusha Preme, Alien House, Shelby Sol, and more) are also a throwback to a core GMF value. Local hip-hop also gets to shine thanks to the long overdue GMF booking for Aych (who plays on Friday).

Per tradition, a gospel choir kicks things off on Saturday morning—that set is always an emotional highlight. Viral electro producers like Surf Mesa are there, too, but so are more reggae-rock oriented acts like Trevor Hall.

And more than ever, the heavyweights on GMFs slate of headliners include polished indie-pop adored by late-millennials and Gen Z, including bands like Young The Giant, Coin, and Jesuit alum Aidan Bisset. Friday night’s headlining activities also have a strong dance vibe thanks to a “playground” DJ set by Louis the Child, plus livetronica from Big Gigantic.

The lineup also doesn’t have many obvious superstars in the making, which is something of a deviation for a festival that’s hosted Grammy-nominated Margo Price (a two-time GMF alum). Hell, Boygenius’ Phoebe Bridgers—who won more Grammys than anyone including Taylor Swift this month—played to about 100 people in 2017.

“The park was hallowed ground, and a spot for Tampa music for decades, and it fit into what we do, ” Cox said about his nonprofit festival that has spent the last 13 years putting refurbished instruments into the hands of local school kids.

And while it’s sad to leave the legacy of Curtis Hixon behind—the long-demolished Curtis Hixon Hall once played host to Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, The Who, Bob Marley, U2 and more—the move opens a lot of doors that just weren’t going to budge at GMF’s old home.

And if time is any indication, GMF knows how to build from the ground up and survive. This is the festival that outlasted so many big money festivals including Innings, Big Guava and Langerado down south, after all.

By the looks of it, GMF is ready to take on the next chapter.

Cox said he’s excited to see crowds take in the music, especially the locals, and he’s proud about the expansion of free tickets for music educators.

“It’s a big part of what we do and a lot of these these kids that play came up under these teachers 10 years ago when they were in middle school, or elementary school,” he added.

“Our primary focus is to showcase the best of Tampa,” he added. “So yeah, it’s a little bittersweet. But for what Curtis Hixon is and what GMF has grown into, it’s hit the point that we need to grow out of it, and bring new history to a new location.”

Look below to scroll through a progression of GMF’s history from 2012 to 2023.