Overview THE FEST is a three-day punk, hardcore and indie festival that takes over downtown Gainesville, Florida, each October, in rooms from the 4,000-capacity Bo Diddley Plaza down to a 50-capacity bar, and in 2024 it put 316 acts on 14 stages. Comedians and independent wrestlers share the bill with the bands. Pass holders move between venues and build their own weekend, which opens with a Thursday kickoff show at Bo Diddley Plaza. The festival calls itself a punk rock family vacation. Tony Weinbender, formerly of No Idea Records, started it in Gainesville, the University of Florida's home town, and the first edition ran two days with 60 bands on four stages. On site The rooms run from Bo Diddley Plaza (all ages) and Heartwood at 2,000 through Vivid Music Hall at 800 and The Wooly and First Magnitude at 400, down to the Hippodrome Theatre, Civic Media Center, University Club, Loosey's, Boca Fiesta, Palomino and Baby J's, some all ages and some 18 and over. The official guidebook, 96 full-color pages with the schedule and band interviews, is what people carry all weekend and take home. The bands are part of the crowd: in 2024 more than 1,400 band members were in town for the weekend alongside the ticket holders. Audience Almost nobody is local. For 2024, 97% of 3-day passes sold outside Gainesville and 74% outside Florida, and the festival lists pass holders from more than 30 countries, from Canada and the United Kingdom to Japan, Brazil and Micronesia. The festival describes them as loyal to the people who openly back independent music culture. Talent and Influencers Past FESTs have booked Hot Water Music, Against Me!, The Menzingers, Descendents, Jawbreaker, Gorilla Biscuits, The Gaslight Anthem, Anti-Flag, Less Than Jake, Mastodon, Frank Turner, GWAR and Streetlight Manifesto. Hot Water Music, The Menzingers, Anti-Flag and Avail headlined in 2022. Propagandhi, Dillinger Four, Jeff Rosenstock and Gainesville's own Laura Jane Grace headlined in 2025. For 2026 the Bouncing Souls and PUP were each booked for two sets, with Lagwagon, Algernon Cadwallader, Texas Is the Reason and Torche lower on the bill. Track record FEST 22 in 2024 sold out: 3,500 3-day passes, 3,514 single-show tickets, and 9,151 people on site counting bands, staff and volunteers. The festival puts its three-day impact on the Gainesville economy at more than $5 million. The website drew 105,000 users and 521,000 page views that year. Brand presence Sponsorship is sold by category, and beverage is the main one. The main-tier beverage becomes the official pour in every FEST venue, rides on the stage banners and the main-stage side fills, stocks the artists' backstage hospitality bar and gets sampling time at Bo Diddley Plaza. Sponsor logos go on posters that a street team of FEST bands and fans puts up at record stores and campuses worldwide, on handbills packed into independent labels' mail orders, and on ads in punk magazines and other festivals' guidebooks. The festival will trade product or services for sponsorship.