Gasparilla Music Festival

GMF is hands down one of my favorite events in Tampa. I love attending the event and participating as a volunteer. 2024 was epic - I had an absolute blast singing and dancing in the rain with Young the Giant. I would give anything to experience that concert again for the first time. GMF did a stellar job finding a last minute replacement for Lake Street Dive. The entire event is so well organized, and the fact that it benefits kids to allow them to have instruments and be musicians is what makes it so special and worthwhile. Also the bike valet is always appreciated.

Wow is all I have to say! The whole experience is amazing. All the people dressed up too make it really feel like the pirates have taken over!

As a lover of live music, this is a great event to enjoy and take in the scene, good vibes and good tunes with a bunch of cool people!

Good music. Lots of vendors. Well worth the trouble finding a good parking spot.

I have yet to see a lineup for this festival that even comes close to what they charge for tickets. There are more student orchestras and choirs than the amount of quality bands in each year's lineup.

Great music festival at an unbelievable price. They had lineups that did not initially make you want to buy tickets. Lately, they have really stepped up their game with the headliners. Good mix of local and unknown bands and reasonably priced beers.

Disclaimer: my roommate won free 1 day VIP tickets from a sponsor, so that certainly affects my experience. The event takes place at Curtis Hixon. Our tickets included free food, drinks (alcoholic, sodas, water, juices, energy drinks), access to bathrooms in trailers with running water and air conditioning along with private covered areas for viewing the concerts and sitting. If I go again next year, I'm planning on buying vip tickets because it is worth the money. Even without those perks, the festival would have been very enjoyable. Parking was easy (10 bucks at a parking garage next door) and exciting at the end of the night only took 20 minutes. With 4 stages going, there was always a great variety of music to be had. Vendors were plentiful and reasonably priced for an event like this. Slightly long lines for some of the vendors, but it wasn't like a thirty minute wait or anything.

Gasparilla Music Festival is one of the best music festivals in the country. The food, music and location make for one of the best weekends of the year. My family looks forward to it each year. If you've never been, buy your tickets and get ready for a great time!

2021 Fest: YEEESSSS! Great music, good food, Coppertail beer, free water... a kids' stage, a Millenials' stage, and a Boomers' stage for "good" music Acts from noon till 10 PM Plus the Silent Disco Do it. DO IT!

Best. Time. Ever. This was my first time attending the music festival although I'm always at the parade and art festivals. The music festival is definitely on my radar now! For 3 days you can a great lineup of artists and lounge on the grass all day if you feel! GMF is both kid and dog friendly, so everyone can enjoy themselves. Not only is it a great outdoor concert with amazing local food vendors, and booze, but they are taking safety measures VERY seriously. We had to show a negative COVID test or vaccination card for entry, they also set up a few cute hand washing stations around the park too. Gasparilla is everyone's favorite time of the year here in Tampa, and with good reason! Check out a few photos! Thanks Yelp for the tickets! It's great to be elite! Check out my Instagram posts @red_lip_foodie for more.

GMF was really a great event, and I'm very impressed with how organized everything was. I loved that they offered different options to buy one or two day passes, with General Admission being the cheapest, then for about $100 more, VIP passes were offered, which included 3 beers per day, plus private hangout areas and restrooms. There was even a VVIP pass, which included food. I had regular admission and it was fine. I got there early on Saturday, put out my blanket with my friends' chairs, and our stuff stayed in the same place the entire day. Nobody bothered anything, and people even made the effort not to walk on other people's blankets. There were plenty of food vendors, plenty of drink vendors, and thankfully, many, many port-o-lets. And the music was fantastic - a combination of rock, folk, alternative, etc. Definitely a wide variety. Plus, it's always such a great idea to have multiple stages with multiple bands playing. I never felt like any area was too crowded to enjoy the music. Yes, parking can be a hassle, and there is not a lot of shade, so share a ride, put on sunscreen, drink plenty of water, and enjoy the day.

Cancels events due to a weak breeze after berating out of town ticket buyer with "rain or shine" BS. If you live nearby, maybe listen to the music. If you have to travel at all, it's clear the event coordinators would rather do what they can to avoid work over delivering what they sold, and traveling for this event is a stupid, pointless waste of money. I paid for VIP and lodging for this? Not my first rodeo, certainly my last GMF.

So I stumbled upon this music festival while I was on YouTube trying to find dates I could see toro y moi. I randomly saw he was performing, and me being the music head I am of course had to see him in Tampa, while I had the chance. I bought a ticket, and convinced a buddy to come with me. I honestly regret nothing! It was a nice day outside, there were plenty of food vendors, the port o potty's were decent all day, the staff was nice...I could go on for days. I was also impressed by the amount of people that showed up for this festival! There was a mix of age demographics and a good mix of different types of people as well. The only thing I could say that they should improve on is to please get more known acts. After I saw toro's set, I briefly watched a few the other less known acts but it would've been nice to see a bigger headliner later as the finale. Other than that if they have better headliners next year I'd go again for sure. Great way to spend the day, and a great backdrop to enjoy as well!

This is my 3rd year attending and it's truly an outstanding event and so well put on at the Park! We love music, live music! And you get all kinds of different vibes and sounds all day, all night. There are a wide variety of food options....the Holy Hog was absolutely A-Mazing! Great BBQ option! Later that night I had something with to tostones from I want to say Cafe Hey?? and it was a LOT of food, couldn't finish it but it was very good! The one thing this year that was a little disappointing to me were the beer options. I'm not a SweetWater fan and that's mostly what was available, the other couple options were also craft beers.... I'm more of a light, wheat-like, Heffe type of beer girl. I did have a few "Blues" but it wasn't great. Overall, as usual, a great event - bring your own lawn seating thing - whether it be a blanket or chairs....I always bring a liter of water, we are so glad we can leave and re-enter so we can go home and feed the dog and come back for the rest of the night - that's a HUGE plus! And the music is always interesting. Another great GMF! And, we'll continue to come year after year! Maybe we'll do the 2 days next year.

This festival was amazing!! It also helped that it was a beautiful day/night with awesome weather. We found free parking on the street and entrance to the park was organized and so easy. I loved the set up of the stages, food, beer and other vendors- there was a nice flow to everything and I never felt overcrowded. All of the performances we saw were high energy and enjoyable. The sound was good and you could get a nice view from pretty much anywhere if you were in the area of that stage. We didn't make it over to the MacDill stage as it was a little bit away from everything else. Also didn't make it in to the silent disco party- the line got longer as the night went on. It looked fun though! Getting beer was not an issue for us, the WOB Beer Garden was really busy at times but the lines moved fast and there was another beer tent by the main entrance. Lots of great food vendors!! We ate before we came though and then by the time we were hungry again it was too late (another time, Stinky Bunz!). Erykah Badu was set to start at 9PM but she didn't come out until past 10PM so we ended up leaving by 11PM to beat the crowds. Would definitely go every year if they are all like this experience! The crowd was chill and everything was perfect. Can't wait to see next year's lineup and get a group together to go again!

I cannot believe I have waited until this year to finally attend the Gasparilla Music Festival. I love live music so clearly I have missed out on some great shows from the previous years it was held. First off, this is one of the most organized events I have seen held at Curtis Hixon Park. Everything ran smoothly during the course of the event. We had General Admission tickets on Saturday and arrived later in the afternoon. We were still able to get up close to the mainstage for the more popular acts. There was a Silent Disco set up which I found fascinating. There were three DJs spinning who were each assigned a different color. When people checked in, they were given a pair of headphones and would choose a color which corresponded with its DJ. There was no music to be heard unless you had a set of headphones and so awesome to see people dancing in silence! There were many food vendors on site, many of them were from my favorite restaurants. There were lines at times, but the lines were not out of control and the waits weren't too bad. My favorites were the Stinky Buns from Anise, the Chicken Waffle Cone from Ella's, and the bacon from Grille 116. Drinks were only sold at the beer tents. This kind of pissed me off because I was sick so all I wanted was water and was hoping to purchase one at a food vendor tent. Sadly, this was not the case. So, in addition to waiting for food, you had to also wait in a separate line for drinks. Grrrr. Restrooms were another story. Out of control lines. But seriously, is there ever enough port-o-potties at any event? Sunday, we had VIP passes and arrived later in the afternoon. It was blazing hot! Three drinks were included with our passes and there was some food offered in the VIP tent, as well. In VIP, you are able to get a bit closer to the stage and you also have air conditioned restrooms. If you are planning to go next year, buy your tickets early because they will sell out. The general admission early bird ticket price for two days was only $40. I had about ten friends scrambling at the last minute to buy tickets only to find that Saturday night had sold out. Early Bird VIP may be worth the extra money. Three drinks are included for both days, with some food, and better restrooms. The Gasparilla Music Festival is a great event to attend if you love live music. Come early if you want to check out all the stages, bands, vendors, etc. We missed some activities and vendors in the Kiley Garden because we got there too late.

I have been to Gasparilla Music Festival all 3 years. Every year I say it can't get any better and every year it does! I must say, GMF has really become something that I look forward to yearly. So here's the deal: What started as a one day music festival has morphed into 2 days of awesome music, delicious food, and craft beers for all. There are 4 stages at GMF, so at any given time you can see what ever type of music you are interested in. It is always in March and the weather has been great all 3 years. The festival draws a very diverse crowd, but everyone has a great time. Onto the food: All of the food is from local restaurants, which makes this festival even more awesome. I had the most delicious bbq pork sandwich with homemade chips and jalapeno mac n cheese this year from Holy Hog, and I have a feeling all of the food there was just delicious! There is also a variety of craft beers, liquors, and wines. The best part about this whole extravaganza: GMF is a non-profit. All profits go to music education in schools. If you haven't been, go next year. I'm telling you - even if you don't know any of the bands, it is well worth the money to spend a beautiful day outside in Curtis Hixon with friends, food, drinks, and fun!

SO MUCH FUN! Whoever came up with idea to put a festival on in the middle of downtown Tampa is a genius. And to incorporate local eateries and breweries (I'm looking at you Cigar City, you beautiful beer brewing gods), well, this is the best way to enjoy spring in Florida. As I mentioned, the festival took place downtown on the water, so we had an amazing view everywhere we turned. At night there were lights and images scrolling across the buildings, which was a super cool effect. The actual space of the festival is huge. There were 4 stages spread out, along with rows of food and merchandise booths. Plenty to keep you moving around and entertained. The stages varied from the huge main stage, where my favorite bands performed, to the intimate amphitheater that had just a few rows of seats and a great view of the water. A couple more stages were scattered about, with some great local bands. As for the food offerings... come hungry and with lots of cash! Some of the vendors took cards, but many were cash only. My friend is a vegetarian and had plenty of yummy choices. I enjoyed the stinky buns from Anise Global Gastrobar. So good! I also had a few beers from Cigar City and Sweetwater, which were super refreshing on this gorgeous warm day. I cannot wait to see what GMF has in store next year. This will definitely be a tradition with my friends, as we had a great time enjoying the live music and all the good stuff Tampa has to offer.

Tampa has been a great music community for many years. I am so proud that this grass roots movement was created and the bay area really seems to be responding. 2016 did NOT disappoint. Personally I did not know many of the acts on the line up but I researched several of them before hand which helped me identify my 'must see' list. Highlights for us included: Lucero, Antibalas, Charles Bradley, Green Sky Bluegrass, Pirulo y La Tribu and Stephen Marley CRUSHED IT on Sunday!! The Curtis Hixon venue's beauty in an urban setting on the water overlooking the UT minarets sets the mood for a festive time. Plenty of space to move around and view a stage. The VIP tickets added lots of value to our experience. The Silent Disco is a hoot but unfortunately we were not willing to wait in the long line. A big shout out to the Paella served at the SPAIN food booth!! We ordered it multiple times. We eagerly await next year's GMF where we will most definitely attend and possibly volunteer too.

This event was awesome. I went on Sunday and saw a few bands play. The event itself was really well put together. There were two main stages and they were relatively close, but still far enough apart as to not have the acts overpowering one another. Food and drink were plentiful here. There were tons of local restaurants who were offering different dishes. I tried some pulled pork from Inside the Box and a prime rib sandwich from Malio's and both were really tasty. The pork had this pesto sauce on it which really gave it a unique flavor since Cuban-style pork and pesto aren't really seen together all that often! The weather was great, the bands were jamming, and I had a good time. I'll be back next year!

We were dissapointed by the lack of talent at the 2016 Gasparilla Music Festival at Curtis Hixon Park considering there were 40 bands on 5 stages. Other than people that live in Downtown and want an excuse to party nearby, it was pretty hard convincing my friends to come out to this concert as there weren't any big names in the line-up. I tried listening to most of the bands on spotify, but was pretty dissapointed in anyone other than Stephen Marley. Erykah Badu peaked in 1997 and Talib Kweli was only a side-kick to a couple popular songs. Ms Mr was good but I already saw them at the Vinoy earlier in the year. Lucero & Houndmouth were too low key and not upbeat enough for my tastes. I went into this concert with low expectations, but was pleasantly delighted by some bands I've never heard of, the light show at night, the silent disco, and Stephen Marley. Stephen Marley basically just lazily performed cover songs of all of Bob Marley's songs. I don't think he presented any original content. In comparison, 97x Next Big Thing, 97x Backyard BBQ, & Wild Splash offer a way better list of headliners at a lower cost per ticket without the need for 5 stages or 40+ bands. 6 good bands with 1 stage would be sufficient. Quality over Quantity would be preferred. The Big Guava Festival did have 4 stages but still had better names. The genres of music represented at the Gasparilla Music Festival were all over the place. GMF really needs to stick to one style of music for each stage or just one stage and focus on bringing in 6 relevant recent bands or artists. Parking Downtown is challenging as there is mostly street parking or paid garage parking available only. I biked to the event so did not have to worry about parking. There was a bike valet which was nice. The lines to get drinks was only 10 minutes on average while the line to get food was also only 10 minutes because of all the options available. I'm surprised this event got as packed as it did with the superior competing events of that weekend: St Pete Grand Prix, Strawberry Festival, and Rihana concert. Please for the love of god, get some decent musical acts for next year! 2016 Lineup: Erykah Badu, Stephen "Ragga" Marley, Greensky Bluegrass, Ms Mr, Lucero, Houndmouth, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, Talib Kweli, Savoy, The New Deal, Antibalas, Carlos Varela, Blitzen Trapper on 5 stages. 2015 Lineup: Modest Mouse, Gogol Bordello, Gaslight Anthem, Trampled by Turtles, MuteMath, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, The Budos Band, Dumpstaphunk, Abyssinians, Hip Adbduction on 4 stages   2014 Lineup: Flaming Lips, Trombone Short, RJD2, Delta Spirit, Jason Isbell, Los Amigos Invisibles, Anders Osborne 2016 Pricing: 2 Day GA Passes $60, Sat GA $40, Sun GA $30, 2 Day VIP Passes $150, Sat VIP $100, Sun VIP $75, Latin Stage Sun $20. VIP includes special viewing areas at the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park Stage, Kiley Gardens Stage, and NEW MacDill Stage, air conditioned restrooms, three complimentary beverages, access to VIP tents, VIP entrance to festival, and re-entry to festival 2016 Food Lineup: Aci Catering and Personal Chef Service - Hot Dogs & Italian Sausage Anise Global Gastrobar - Stinky Bunz Big Ray's Fish Camp - Grouper Sandwiches Cafe Hey - Cuban Sandwiches Dochos Concession - Monte Cristo & Fried Delights Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe - Chicken & Waffle Cone and Asian Smoked Pork Tostada Fodder and Shine - Fried Chicken Biscuit & Fried Eggplant Biscuits Ichicoro - CuBaoNo & Veggie Karaage Holy Hog Barbecue and Food Truck - Bar-B-Que Hot Donut Co. (Brucey) - Fresh Coffee & Donuts Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa - Indie Grilled Cheese(s) Inside the Box - Cafe and Catering - The Swash-unbuckler Sandwich Kona Ice of Tampa Bay - Shaved Ice & Ice Cream Malios Prime Steakhouse - Prime Rib Sandwiches Rooster & the Till - Crispy Pork Belly, Cornbread, Pickled Apple Seabreeze Devil Crabs Trolley Cafe - Devil Crabs Spain Restaurant & Toma Bar - Paella Whatever Pops - Gourmet Ice Pops Your Pie Pizza Food Truck - Pizza

Once you go VIP, there isn't any other way around the festival that will please you. First time here and hopefully not the last; this festival was done right and all of the staff had smiles on their faces. Entered through the VIP entrance and made our way to the VIP tent near the main stage. Our wristbands gave us 3 free drinks plus access to whatever snacks they had out at the moment (in the tent) - I was SO happy to hear that the free drinks included alcohol. I saw the cool "cabana" type chairs/couches off to the side, but there was always someone in them. (Some chick was passed out in one for HOURS - kinda rude to deny everyone else the chance to sit in them, but alright!) Second reason why the VIP was worth it, other than the 3 free drinks, had to be the VIP bathrooms. Yes, they were outside of the festival but only a few feet away and consistently usable (read: better than port-o-potty's.) The food selection was great, albeit some of it was pricy for the 'I could have done without eating this' taste. Other than the food vendors, there were lots of little boho-hippie-festival vendors looming around at the second stage area. I bought some neat pins from one of them (hey, I love me some Adventure Time and Pokémon.) And last but certainly not least, the VIP had the area about 30 feet from the stage divided off for those particular ticket holders only. :) In the end, it was completely worth the $150 for the 2-day VIP ticket purchase just for the above-mentioned items alone. Fantastic music, lovely weather, and such a fun little downtown area in Tampa surrounding the festival. 5-stars all the way!!

One of the best-managed festivals I have ever been to. Top notch bands, local food, premium beers in an ideal location...perfection. If you have a chance, GO.

Great festival every year. Lots of stages. The silent disco is the best part. Not too crowded. Love this festival.