As about 300 bands gear up for Fest 11, about 8,000 people will flood into the city with empty stomachs and full wallets for a weekend of music.
The Fest, which starts today and ends Sunday, is an annual music festival that hosts performances in venues, bars and restaurants in and near downtown. The festival attracts attendees from as far as Great Britain and Japan.
Many Gainesville businesses welcome the Fest as a lucrative gift before the slow winter season and are preparing to make the most of it.
“We’re stocking up on everything: food, alcohol and beverages,” said Matt VanDusen, Holiday Inn University Center front desk and guest services employee.
The hotel is the official headquarters hotel for Fest. All 164 rooms are sold out to Fest attendees, said VanDusen.
Tate Clair, owner of The Lunchbox, said he expects the small restaurant’s revenue to be four times higher than usual this weekend.
Clair has his restaurant stocked up on sauces, quadrupling the recipes for this weekend. He also hired a few extra people for the weekend and booked his staff’s schedule solid.
“We try to make money and have a good time,” he said.
Clair has also picked up chicken stock and vitamin C supplement “Emergen-C” so his staff doesn’t get sick from the draining weekend.
“We’ll all be dead by the end of the weekend,” Clair said.
Adam Wood, manager of Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub, said his bar is expected to pack in about 3,000 customers over the weekend. He said he’s ordered about 200 cases of beer to serve.
“It’s definitely better on Florida-Georgia weekend,” Wood said.
Wood said he hired two extra security workers for the festival. Over three days, each employee will have to work at least 19 hours. He said he will have to work 35 hours himself.
“It’s long hours and busy time, but in the end, it’s worth it for the business and the employees,” Wood said.
A popular souvenir of the Fest experience is a “Stressface” tattoo from Anthem Tattoo Parlor.
What started off as two simple designs of Dracula and Frankenstein boomed into about 30 new designs set for this year. The parlor’s owner, Mike Salay, said the tattoo gained popularity after Andrew Seward from Against Me! posted the design on Twitter last year.
Anthem Tattoo Parlor takes no reservations on Fest weekend. There will be a waiting list nearly 70 names long for one of the famous keepsakes. Over the weekend, Salay expects his parlor will ink 150 tattoos.
“We didn’t expect it to blow up like it did,” Salay said.
Fest patrons stand in a sold-out line for an event at High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave., on Thursday evening. Fest begins on Friday and will take place at the following venues: The Florida Theater of Gainesville, 8 Seconds, High Dive, The Atlantic, 1982, Loosey’s, CMC, The Lunchbox, Durty Nelly’s Pub, The Laboratory, Rockey’s Piano Bar, The New Top Spot and Boca Fiesta/Palomino.
