The Fest
Encyclopedia
The Fest is an annual music festival
in Gainesville, Florida
, organized by No Idea Records
. It is a predominantly punk rock
festival, though there are also a good number of indie rock, country, and metal acts. The Fest first took place in 2002 and has since attracted a large number of punk bands throughout the years. Bands perform across at as many as 12 venues (varying from small bars to large theaters) in the downtown Gainesville area.
The Fest is sponsored by No Idea Records
and, among others, Pabst Blue Ribbon
and Commonwealth Press.
The Fest is also known for hosting many unofficial house shows, and for booking the entire Holiday Inn
near the University of Florida
. The Fest takes place each year on the weekend of the Florida-Georgia football game, held in Jacksonville, so downtown Gainesville is left almost entirely to the over 5000 people attending and performing at The Fest. This large influx of punks and the like is known locally as "the Infestation".
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, organized by No Idea Records
No Idea Records
For other uses, see No Idea .No Idea Records is an independent record label based in Gainesville, Florida which produces both vinyl records and compact discs...
. It is a predominantly punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
festival, though there are also a good number of indie rock, country, and metal acts. The Fest first took place in 2002 and has since attracted a large number of punk bands throughout the years. Bands perform across at as many as 12 venues (varying from small bars to large theaters) in the downtown Gainesville area.
The Fest is sponsored by No Idea Records
No Idea Records
For other uses, see No Idea .No Idea Records is an independent record label based in Gainesville, Florida which produces both vinyl records and compact discs...
and, among others, Pabst Blue Ribbon
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Pabst Blue Ribbon is a brand of beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, originally established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but now based in Los Angeles. Pabst Blue Ribbon is contract-brewed in six different breweries around the U.S...
and Commonwealth Press.
The Fest is also known for hosting many unofficial house shows, and for booking the entire Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
near the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
. The Fest takes place each year on the weekend of the Florida-Georgia football game, held in Jacksonville, so downtown Gainesville is left almost entirely to the over 5000 people attending and performing at The Fest. This large influx of punks and the like is known locally as "the Infestation".