The Fest 7: Gainesville or bust
Posted on 6 September 2008 | 2 Comments
Filed Under: Blog
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By now you all must have heard or read about the ridiculously insane lineup at The Fest in Gainesville, FL. In case you missed it, there are over 250 bands playing over Halloween weekend including: The Bouncing Souls, Dillinger Four, Strike Anywhere, Lawrence Arms, Coalesce, Drag The River, Lemuria, Able Baker Fox, Nothington, Broadway Calls, Two Cow Garage, Polar Bear Club, Algernon Cadwallader, and that isn’t even scraping the surface of just how great the lineup is this year. Seriously.
But that brings me to one question, “How can I get my ass to Gainesville for The Fest?” As of today, there are 55 days until The Fest begins and I either need to scrape together the cash to fly to Gainesville or pack up the car and start driving. Decisions, decisions.
Chicago to Gainesville is about a 16 hour drive and depending on gas mileage and prices, the fuel would cost in the neighborhood of $350 round trip. Flying would save a ton of time and a round trip fare would be almost the same price. Tickets for The Fest are going for the bargain price of $55 for the three days. That’s a lotta bang for your buck but with hotels costing $75-150 a night it all evens out, right?
In total, going to Gainesville for The Fest over Halloween weekend would cost at least $600 not including drinks or food. It’s a lotta punk rock but that’s a lotta green. If anyone else out there is planning on heading down, I’d love to hear what your travel and lodging suggestions/arrangements are.
Comments
This is almost a week late, but oh well. I used to live in Gainesville, so I can tell you that Gainesville is CHEAP. You don’t really need a car there, the buses are great. If you want to save some money and if you’re planning on actually driving or renting a car — parking isn’t a problem, by the way — you could stay somewhere outside of Gainesville to cut back on the cost of a hotel. Ocala is about a 20 minute drive away and hotels are way cheaper there usually. Also, eat at Bento! It’s delicious.
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We’ll be there again. It was ridiculously fun last year, there’s no way I’d miss it. Especially with Leatherface playing. We’re flying to Jacksonville and renting a car. It’s only about $200 roundtrip. Oh, and I’d highly recommend staying at the “executive” hotel. It’s really nice, has a shuttle that will take you wherever you want, and will keep you far enough away from the debauchery at the Holiday Inn. Let me know if you’re going.