Every corner of First Magnitude Brewing Company bustled with food trucks, musicians and vendors to celebrate Swamp Boogie III on Saturday.
The third annual event was held as a fundraiser for the Florida Springs Council, an advocacy group that uses grassroots action and policy to protect Florida’s springs.
Savannah Blevins, the group’s 27-year-old program coordinator, manned one of the organization's booths at the event, selling tickets for a raffle held later in the evening.
This is the third summer Florida Springs Council and First Magnitude Brewing have paired up to put on the event. For Blevins and the rest of the council, summer is the perfect time to celebrate Florida’s natural world.
“We were like, ‘Summer is wide open, let's just lean into the swamp vibes, the mosquitoes, the rain, the humidity,’” Blevins said. “It’s been really nice to see everyone embrace it.”
Throughout the venue, patrons leaned into the outdoorsy theme. Many wore shirts printed with manatees, water birds and other native Florida animals.
For one vendor, Katlyn Cole, the crowd was much different than at other Gainesville events she has participated in.
The 28-year-old watercolor artist focuses her work on species like snakes and insects, which are often viewed in a negative light.
“I do a lot of events where people will approach me and see my art and be like, 'Oh, I hate snakes, I kill snakes,’” Cole said. “So it's nice to have people who are like, ‘Oh yeah, I want to get this diamondback print because I see them hiking, and I love them.’ It's very refreshing.”
In booths across the event, many artists spent their time making art rather than just selling it. Live glass blowing, poetry writing and T-shirt printing caught eyes across the venue.
Mixed in with the rest of the vendors was the Reptile Preservation Institute, a non-profit conservation zoo that brought live baby alligators and crocodiles to the event.
Cody Bartolini, the institute’s 40-year-old executive director, said they have been involved with various events at First Magnitude Brewing for years.
“We just got absorbed in any of their events that have anything to do with conservation and animals,” Bartolini said. “It allows us to come out here, drink some good beer and educate people.”
Part of Swamp Boogie’s mission is to combine fun with conservation efforts. Throughout the evening, First Magnitude Brewing was filled with the background noise of children playing tag and the splashes of a dunk tank.
Live music floated above the ambience, the main draw of Saturday’s event.
Music started at 7 with rock band The Corvids, followed by folk-punk artists Confession Kids and American Dream Survivors.
Jupiter Thomas, a 23-year-old who works at a foster house, said the music drew them in from a different event happening in nearby Depot Park.
“I heard the really rad music,” Thomas said. “So I sat down, and I’ve just been listening.”
The fun throughout the event, though, was still for a purpose: to raise money and awareness about the threats to Florida’s springs and natural waterways.
For many in Gainesville and the surrounding area, the springs are integral to life. One local, Mike Klein, a 59-year-old running for Florida’s 3rd congressional seat, believes the Florida Springs Council is on the right side of history.
“The idea of allowing overdevelopment, industrial runoff or anything really that damages the aquifers and this wonderful network of springs, nobody supports that,” Klein said.
Contact Brandy Sumner at bsumner@alligator.org.
Brandy Sumner is an anthropology and English junior and this summer's music and performance reporter. This is their first semester working at the Alligator. In their free time they enjoy playing guitar, reading and writing.
