Festival season rapidly approaches and more new festivals seem to sprout up by the day. With an onslaught of tempting options, it can be difficult to balance the allure of live music with your personal finances. While bigger festivals offer grandiose experiences, the combined cost of the ticket, hotel, and travel expenses rack up fast. The advent of smaller festivals has allowed people to see many of the artists they would otherwise completely miss.
Big Guava Festival, an inaugural festival in Tampa, Florida, has come out of seemingly nowhere to offer people a reasonably-priced festival stacked to the brim with musical talent. Set to take place from May 2nd to 4th, Big Guava is posed to take not just Tampa but all of Florida by storm with an experience that cannot be easily replicated. Here are our five reasons why you should check it out:
5. A Lineup Filled With Rare and Massive Acts
While central Florida has grown in attracting live music, the state still often gets completely glossed over by touring schedules. Big Guava has assembled a particularly exemplary group of artists, focusing on indie and alternative artists but also dabbling in the hip-hop and electronic genres.
The festival marks the only Florida stop of recently reunited hip-hop legends Outkast, a huge get for a first year festival. Other names include mashup king Girl Talk, rising rapper and Skrillex-collaborator Chance the Rapper, and indie favorites Vampire Weekend. Utilizing four stages across three days also points to minimal conflicts and plenty of time to see all your favorite bands.
4. Spacious and Fitting Venue
Big Guava picked the Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheater and the Florida State Fairgrounds as its venue, perhaps the ideal location for a festival in Tampa. Past events such as Coastline and Identity festivals have occurred at the venue with fantastic results. While it remains to be seen how the four stages will be dispersed among the area, festival organizers will definitely use the amphitheater and fairgrounds building.
The amphitheater masterfully carries sound over its pit, seated area, and lawn. The elevated structure also ensures everyone will be able to see the spectacle on stage. The fairgrounds building will cool down everyone with air conditioning while a variety of performers dazzle crowds. Given its large space, crowds will likely disperse evenly and comfortably and give everyone more room to dance or relax during downtime. Placing such an ambitious festival at Tampa’s premier venue will not only smooth out logistics but ensure everyone will enjoy themselves to the fullest.
3. Thrill Rides
With the festival taking place at the Florida State Fairgrounds, it seems appropriate to enhance the experience with carnival rides. Taking a page from Electric Daisy Carnival, Big Guava will outfit the festival grounds with plenty of carnival rides to entertain guests. Although organizers have yet to reveal which rides will thrill attendees, we look forward to riding all of the rides offered.
2. Four Stages
Big Guava will boast four stages, an impressive amount for a first-year festival. While the layout and stage theming are still unknown, four stages will allow attendees to spread across the grounds and alleviate traffic. The stage count also hints at longer sets, especially when comparing the amount of performers on the bill to the duration of the festival (Friday runs from 4 to 11 PM, Saturday runs from 11:30 AM to 11:00 PM, and Sunday runs from 11:30 AM to 10 PM). Local talent may also pop up on the lineup later as the schedule is formed, giving rising bands and performers a chance to play for large crowds.
1. All Inclusive Ticket
The best part of the festival is the all inclusive ticket. While concerts at the amphitheater normally tier the pricing according to the seats, Big Guava has opted for a simpler business plan. While food and VIP amenities will cost extra, making the seats and pit areas first-come, first-served and having free rides eliminates the potential headaches one may get when deciding to purchase a ticket.
The ticket grants you access to all four stages at any time and gives everyone an equal chance of securing close spots to the action on stage. While most festivals extort guests by charging for parking, Big Guava includes parking with every ticket. This business model ensures no attendee is confused about what their ticket includes or which seat is theirs since everything is open. The festival organizers clearly understand the many plights the festival attendee often encounters; the philosophies behind their policies reflects a much-lauded effort to streamline the festival experience.
Ticket can be purchased through Livenation.
Check out the daily lineup below:
Friday, May 2: Outkast, Cake, Sleigh Bells, Twenty One Pilots, Jake Miller, Smallpools, NONONO, Vic Mensa, the Unlikely Candidates, Betty Who
Saturday, May 3: Vampire Weekend, Slightly Stoopid, Tegan and Sara, Haim, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, Blue October, Band of Skulls, American Authors, Hoodie Allen, Bear Hands, Kitten, Jacuzzi Boys, Terraplane Sun, Hunter Hunted, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas
Sunday, May 4: Foster the People, Girl Talk, Violent Femmes, Grouplove, Walk the Moon, Earl Sweatshirt, MS MR, Chance the Rapper, Timeflies, ZZ Ward, St. Lucia, Morning Parade, Magic Man, Gringo Star, Fly Union
Photo Credits: Tickets Sarasota, Inside Florida, Blink Collection 182
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