THE FEST 13 will expand onto Bo Diddley Community Plaza this year.
The ever-growing alternative music festival that will host 365 bands over Halloween weekend plans to fence off the plaza to be the main stage, hosting big-name bands like Descendents, the Menzingers and Less Than Jake.
“Bo Diddley gives us the opportunity to have the biggest shows,” said the founder of FEST Tony Weinbender.
Weinbender had been working for three years with the City of Gainesville to make the growth happen, with one obstacle being selling alcohol on city property.
“People are traveling from so far away to see these shows,” he said, “we want to make them as comfortable as possible.”
On Saturday and Sunday, the fenced-off area will include the section of Southeast First Avenue across the plaza in front of the Hampton Inn and Suites and the Supervisor of Elections buildings.
In addition to fencing that section off, organizers of FEST hired additional officers from Gainesville Police and emergency medical technicians.
“Our biggest thing is that there is a mutual respect among everyone,” said GPD Lt. Brian Helmerson. “We’ve been working with FEST for four to five years very closely, and we’re focused on coordinating personnel so we can communicate appropriately.”
Maximum capacity for the plaza is still not known.
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/9/2014 under the headline "FEST to make its way to Bo Diddley Community Plaza this year"]
A member of the audience crowd surfs during a performance by 1994! as part of Fest 12 at The Atlantic on Saturday. The four-day Gainesville music festival brought many underground rock bands to downtown.
