your about 3 years to late
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/loca ... ryid=46416

Yeah, that year ruled! I got to Fest all weekend, rest up a day, and start all over again it was AWESOME! I spent hours on my costume.

That kind of makes it seem worse... that it's not even a legitimate consideration? So you're saying football is the reason we no longer get to celebrate Halloween downtown/midtown on Halloween? Basically you're just replacing one group of people with another...

I don't know which is worse... the pink normal "slut-o-ween" parades or the overwhelming lack of spirit from Fest-goers. Either way, it makes for a pathetic sight on Halloween weekend. If I had a nickel for every time someone came up and asked "Why are you wearing a costume?"...


I just don't buy this. There are "dead weeks" in town which the venues would absolutely love you for if you filled them instead of their desperate karaoke, employee appreciation barbecues, video game nights, and/or movie nights. What about Spring Break? What about pretty much any time between the beginning of May through the end of August (aka Summer Break)? What about most all of every single December (aka Winter Break)?

With all due respect, this is probably the last place you will find support for making it a different weekend.

I was going to suggest that you try VooDoo Fest and support New Orleans for Halloween. I went one year - everyone in costumes, plenty of music, lots of fun on Bourbon Street!

However - http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2009/03 ... erien.html

weather would most likely be the answer to all of that, the end of October is usually the nicest weather of the year. May through August has the same crappy schedule, in the morning it's hot as hell, at 2pm it rains, after that it's even hotter and then at night it's humid. sounds like a disaster for a music festival that involves people walking between venues constantly.
also Spring break i know of some store owners that use that as their own vacation time too, then December is a busy month because of the holidays.

there is talk of moving location and general date of the florida/georgia game but that won't be for like 3-4 years

Yeah, I barely wanna move during a lot of the summer, let alone try to Fest. too busy melting.

Halloween is awesome, but I'll gladly give it up for The Fest.

As a Fest attendee, I am also deeply irked by the lack of Halloween spirit, which dovetails neatly with my irkedness over the bland comformity that has been creeping across every scene I care to think about for the past twenty or so years. What's to be done about it? Prolly nothing. But we should at least TRY. Both for the sake of the Fest itself and for general community relations. Bystanders and fence-sitters see a bunch of insular scenester Halloween Grinches in black uniforms, and I can't see as how I can blame them for that impression.

Part of it is that it has gotten so big that there is no hope of true Halloween hijinks within the context of the Fest- no room on the schedule for Iron Maiden cover bands or performance artists throwing liver around or what-have-you. Too many little kids in black hoodies who take themselves too seriously to do kid's stuff like dressing up in costumes- aside from the ones they already have on, that is.

As a resident of Gainesville, I can also see how LOADS of people are really irritated by the hijacking of Halloween. And, really, it just alienates the people that Fest should, arguably, be winning over. Many of them have tried to go to the Fest, but got annoyed by the lack of Halloween spirit. Then they tried to do their own thing on Halloween, but still kept tripping over the Fest. It's true, you don't have to do anything about it. These people aren't going to shut the Fest down or pick fights or bust people or anything. Does that make it fair or right to piss on their parade?

So, yeah, all in all, I'd rather see the Fest happen on a different weekend.

As far as scheduling goes, I'm curious what was up with 2005. In 2005, the Fest was held the weekend before Thanksgiving. Downtown was pretty dead aside from Fest. The weather was still lovely. I checked, to make sure I wasn't missing something, and the Ga-FLa game was held in October that year, like always. SO....wassupwithat?

At any rate, assuming that the schedule can't or won't be changed, we should at least try to get some more civic and Halloween spirit into the Festivities, one way or another. And if the crowd at the Fest really isn't down for that, then that's an even bigger and scarier problem, isn't it?

And I could have sworn they still sold Misfits t-shirts at Hot Topic...

I'm pretty sure Halloween is unaffected by The Fest everywhere in Gainesville other than downtown. And Halloween won't ALWAYS fall during Fest weekend, just last year, this year, and next year.

Weekend before Thanksgiving seems like it might be an OK time to have Fest as well though.

Downtown Gville is where all the venues are where halloween events are that would happen.

I for one look forward to 2011 if I'm still even in FL.

so I see it right The Fest 8 date is sure (unless they change the football schedule)? Okay then I already can start looking into flights and see if I find any incredible offer...

had friends flying really cheap to NYC.. right now the prices on msost sites are pretty much the same..

i don't care, if these dudes want to put the Fest on the birthday of fucking jesus goddamn christ, i'd still go.

being able to live in a city that puts on a Fest like this is pretty awesome. would you rather the Fest be in like san fransisco? i can live with having a lame halloween, in favor of having an awesome overall weekend.

Haha, high five on that.

I'd imagine we UK types contribute to the whole not arsed about Halloween thing, because, well, generally speaking, we're not arsed about Halloween. Sorry.

same for me - the few halloween spirit I catched at the Fest last year was the most ever.. for putting on costumes, loosing the brain, making out with strangers and getting drunk without any reason we have the carneval...

Yeah, that still qualifies as a pretty solid party for me.