GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) — With more than 300 shows over the 3-day festival, many of the people who come to Fest come year after year.
“I come back because its literally part of my life now like I live, eat sleep breathe fest. I love punk rock. I love music. It’s just literally something in my blood,” said Eric Lupardi from New Jersey. This is his 6th time attending Fest.
“It’s kind of like punk rock summer camp. We all come back and it’s just great to see each other for 3 days. It’s like re-living old times each year,” Brian Komatz from North Carolina said.
Although some fans may look imposing, everyone I spoke to says they’re all teddy bears at heart.
“I’ve never met someone who was like mean nasty, everybody is cool. Like you can make friends, I could walk down this line right here and make three or four friends before I get to the corner over there,” Lupardi said.
Kristen Fowler from Philadelphia is attending her 5th Fest.
“Just because we look a little different, some of us might have blue hair, some of us might have no hair, just don’t judge people we’re all friendly and that’s why we come here is for the companionship and the music. It’s very unifying,” Fowler said.
And the economic benefit of this specific weekend is not lost on local businesses.
“You can ask any restaurant we definitely put an economic boom in this city and also our attendees are very friendly and very nice and like I said they come from all over the world. We doing it during the Florida Georgia game for a reason. A lot of people leave town and we’re able to bring a lot of people to town that weekend,” Tony Weinbender, Head Fest Organizer, said.
Although the full-venue day passes have already sold out, there are free shows available both Saturday and Sunday and most venues allow you to pay at the door if there’s a specific band you want to see.