As Gainesville prepares for a FEST, a multiday, multivenue music festival, Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward will help kick off the weekend by presenting the Key to the City to members of Hot Water Music.
Hot Water Music is celebrating its 30-year anniversary, and the city plans to recognize it for its contributions to the punk city, helping raise Gainesville’s international profile as a music destination. Ward will also proclaim Oct. 24 to be Hot Water Music Day.
The presentation of the Key to the City is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at city hall, 200 E. University Ave., and will be followed by FEST’s kick-off show at Bo Diddley Plaza, featuring Hot Water Music, The Flatliners and Cloud Nothings.
Hot Water Music will also perform on Friday night, with Cobra Skulls, Restorations and Makewar.
Other FEST bands include The Bouncing Souls, Streetlight Manifesto, Matt and Kim, Superchunk, Joyce Manor, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Cursive and many more. See a full list of artists at the FEST website.
FEST will last Oct. 25-27, and while three-day passes are sold out, tickets are still available for multiple individual showcases. Pre-sale online prices will be available until 12 hours before the show starts, and walk-up sale prices will be available if the show is not sold out.
Individual show tickets purchased will be at the venue at “will call” before the show. Festival organizers recommend saving your order on your phone in case of an issue, or if the name on the ticket does not match yours.
To pick up a “will call” ticket, attendees will need to bring an ID. International attendees will need to have a passport to enter the venue.
On Friday from noon until 7 p.m., vendors, record labels, artists, designers, zines, will be at the FEST flea market during registration at Depot Park. A list of vendors is available on the flea market page of the FEST’s website.