is the 18 and up rule strictly enforced? my girlfriend and i are planning on going but during the Fest she will be about 10 days shy of being 18.. dont wanna risk driving to florida if she for sure cannot attend. please help me out!

All that stuff is on the Fest FAQ page on the main site im pretty sure.. but when I went to Fest 7 I had some friends who were 17 and they still got into the venues, just weren't able to get served beer in there.

technically, very few venues are supposed to allow people under 18 in. I don't know if her being close 18 will make a difference, probably just depends on the guys working the doors.

I'm not sure if the laws have changed or what, but there used to be a LOT more all ages shows in Gainesville.

if you check out the past Fest schedules, you will see the limitation of the different venues,... some are all ages, some are 18+ , some 21+.. and I'm pretty sure its the choice of the local venues not the Fest crew

http://www.thefestfl.com/fest8
http://www.thefestfl.com/fest7
......

im not worried about being served beer.. im worried about us driving from STL and her not being able to get in any venues..

at the very least, she will be able to get into 1982, but I sure wouldn't drive down just for that. Last year The Kickstand was all ages, but they've closed up.

borrow someone's ID for the weekend?

written in the FAQs, 1982 and Waynwards are all ages... Civic Media Center was as well and I would be surprised if that changed... I can imagine its not fun just being limited to these three venues, maybe missing your favourite band as they play in another club...

and if you hoped for a answer controls are easy at the Fest, the answer is probably no.. its probably the same like the rest of the year

I've brought my younger sister with me a few times, with a note from our parents that say i'm her guardian for the weekend and responsible for her and blah blah blah, you could probably swing something like that. whenever we went into a venue she came in right after me and if they questioned her age we whipped out the note.

The venues try to protect themselves, but I think you could surely find an older Fester to play parent/guardian.

so you guys think it would be ok for her to come? i could also play the "we drove from st louis" card too.. ill get a note too.

Very few bouncers will care where you drove from. The concern of the clubs is to cover their asses legally, so they're very unlikely to knowingly let a minor into their establishments, unless you manage to pull off the whole note and legal guardian thing, which probably still won't work everywhere.



Nobody here can answer that question for you. If you come, you've got three options here:

1. Accept the limitations of only being able to go to a select few venues.

2. Try your luck with various bouncers at the 18+ venues, all of whom will be be carding pretty much everybody who looks a day under 50.

3. That other thing.

Most venues are pretty strict about it from what I've seen. you're more likely to not get carded if there is a giant line but still its a giant risk/reward. There will defiantly be shows where you cant get in, and there will be shows you can get into. Just gotta be lucky.

Also, not a bouncer in the world will care if you drove from St. Louis or if you swam from Australia.

We went to Fest 7, I was 34 & I got asked for i.d. I recall seeing a young girl trying to get into The Venue with her guardian & they were having all sorts of trouble. I guess each situation will be different & possibly there would be a different outcome every time. You just have to make up your mind if you want to try your luck or leave your girlfriend at home. (Just a joke by the way!)

Actually I think they were like 20, just not old enough to buy booze in the US, so ignore my silly branes.

totally wouldn't try saying that to any bouncers dude..