The aftermath of Fest includes fan souvenirs of left-behind trash. For some venues, the cleanup is relatively easy, given the number of people who migrate to the four-day festival. But part of the responsibility also falls on the city.
Shauna Dixon, owner of Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub, said Fest cleanup is like “regular cleaning times 30.” But the process is pretty standard, she said, and her staff took care of all the cleaning at her venue.
Dixon, who said the bar has hosted Fest bands every year, said this year was no cleaner than usual, but the music fans tried to show as much respect for the venue as possible.
“They’re very mannerly — the punk culture — very respectful of the premises,” she said.
Steve Joplin, the city’s solid waste manager, said much of the Fest cleanup falls to the city.
“Unfortunately, the city ends up cleaning whatever mess is made,” he said. “We’ve had some years where downtown is a terrible mess, but the information from my staff was that [Fest 12] wasn’t as bad as previous years.”
Joplin said because Fest is such a big event, he has to schedule employees to work Friday through Sunday even though that falls outside normal hours.
“When we have to schedule staff to come in,” he said, “it’s not a very ideal situation.”
Fest organizer Tony Weinbender said all Fest volunteers stay an extra hour after each show to help the venues clean up. Compared to other Gainesville events, he said the cleanup isn’t a big deal.
“I think we are … less of a cleanup process than a Gator game or the Homecoming Parade,” he said.
Kelcee Griffis contributed to this report. A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/7/2013 under the headline "Venues, city tidy up Fest 12 aftermath"
