Finding the Festival for You

credit%3A+Jess+Fingar.+Sophomore+Jess+Fingar+poses+stylishly+at+Big+Guava+Music+Festival+

credit: Jess Fingar. Sophomore Jess Fingar poses stylishly at Big Guava Music Festival

Festival season is just around the corner and Academy girls are getting excited. Ask them, they will share that one of the most amazing things about living in Tampa is the amount of different music festivals in the area with all genres of music that  appeals to  all people. Whether it is alternative, rock, screamo/pop punk, or EDM, Tampa has got it all.

 AHN Girls Love Our Festivals

97x Next Big Thing & Backyard BBQ

97x Next Big Thing, the show that radio station 97x: Your New Alternative’s puts together, usually takes place in late November or early December and sets the tone for the festivals to come throughout the year. The concert usually hosts big name artist like The 1975, Fall Out Boy, New Politics, and Young the Giant, but it also gives people a chance to discover new bands. Senior Alex Perez elaborates, “Not only is the show free, but some of favorite bands who usually never come to Tampa are apart of this show. So it is a win, win situation”. This year, 97x Next Big Thing will take place December 5 at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater. 

97x also hosts a free show in the spring called 97x Backyard BBQThese concerts are both held at the amazing Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg. As a result of the variety of musicians playing at Backyard BBQ and NBT, they  appeal to either pop punk, alternative, or people who are trying to discover new bands. Who would not want to go to a Free Show? 

NBT '14
NBT ’14. Credits: Audrey Cooper
"Sunshine and good friends" -Alex Perez
“Sunshine and good friends” -Alex Perez   Credits: Alex Perez
Travis from Night Riots or Skeleton?
Travis from Night Riots or Skeleton?  Credits: Eva Prendergast
"Victor and I were having a great time until a guy almost pulled me over the sea wall with him" -Karlee Nipper
“Victor and I were having a great time until a guy almost pulled me over the sea wall with him” -Karlee Nipper   Credits: Karlee Nipper
Senior Eva Prendergast surfing the day away at 97x Backyard BBQ listening to good music with friends.
Senior Eva Prendergast surfing the day away at 97x Backyard BBQ listening to good music with friends. Credits: Eva Prendergast

Coral Skies Music Festival

Coral Skies is an all day event in late October featuring the best indie rock bands, food trucks, and the coolest art around. Spend the day wandering between both stages while never missing a single song. Due to all the different options, one of The hardest decisions to make is “which food truck am I eating lunch and dinner from?” At such a great value, you and your friends will not  want to miss this!

"The skies were actually coral"- Grace Toups
“The skies were actually coral.”- Grace Toups  Credits: Grace Toups

This festival is a huge attraction the the Indie lovers of AHN. Senior Eva Prendergast shared, “My favorite festival was definitely the Coral Skies at the Amphitheater. We got there at 10 am just so we could be front row for my favorite bands attended including Bombay Bicycle Club, the Bleachers, and Cage the Elephant and I got to meet them for free, HOW COOL?! My friend won me free tickets, and the festival as a whole is just a laid-back fun time where you can listen to good music with good friends friends.”

"The whole festival experience is just a laid-back and fun time"-Eva Prendergast
“The whole festival is just a laid-back, fun time”-Eva Prendergast                       credits: Eva Prendergast

 

Jack Antonoff from Bleachers
Jack Antonoff from Bleachers  credits: Jacqueline Brooker

Big Guava Music Festival

Just like Coral Skies, Big Guava is a two day music festival with four stages of all types of music from alternative to rap, from old school rock to EDM, it has it all.  The thing that attracts so many Academy girls to Big Guava is the fact there are food trucks galore and tent shops set up throughout the fairgrounds. Music, food, and shopping, what else could a girl want? Sophomore Feraby Hoffman shared, “Big Guava was really fun because I loved being able to listen to great bands and eat amazing food all at the same time.” Big Guava is the best two days ever and is a festival that everyone should experience. Senior Alexis Markines shares, “Big Guava is like Coachella but for Tampa.” More about Big Guava music and fashion can be found on my blog  Elle Viv.

"meeting bands is the best part" -Feraby Hoffman
“Meeting the bands are the best part of festivals or any concert ” -Feraby Hoffman   Credits: Feraby Hoffman
lead singer of Grouplove getting up close and personal with the crowd photo creds: Reilly Sleater
lead singer of Grouplove getting up close and personal with the crowd
Credits: Reilly Sleater
"Seating in the sun and watching bands from afar with your best friends is the best part"- Nina Alberte
“Seating in the sun and watching bands from afar with your best friends is what I look forward to”- Nina Alberdi Credits: Nina Alberdi
The man, the myth, the Vampire. Ezra Koeing of Vampire Weekend
The man, the myth, the Vampire. Ezra Koeing of Vampire Weekend             Credits: Jazzy Mendoza
spot the difference
spot the difference Credits: Reilly Sleater
if academy girls didn't take a candid at a festival, did they even go?
If academy girls didn’t take a candid at a festival, did they even go?                    Credits: Ruby Knopik

Vans Warped Tour

In its twenty-first year, Vans Warped Tour  was back to the bay and better then ever, and count on the fact that Academy girls were there. Warped Tour is different from most festivals in the area in the sense the music genre is more raw and intense. Ranging from screamo to rock to rap, Warped Tour had it all, and creator Kevin Lyman packed the lineup with show stopping performance. One stage would have rapper Mod Sun, and following him, the alternative band Night Riots played. Junior Claire Leto shared, “Warped Tour is like Christmas for me, one of the best years so far.” Junior Julianne Nitcher noted,  “The groups of people you meet there are so friendly, with the way they let you move around in crowds and don’t push or shove you at all and everyone is there for the same reason you are and that’s for the music which today is hard to find at festivals and concerts.”  Fair warning: Be prepared for a high intensity, crowded, fist pumping day.   

Senior Sofia Curry cozying up to her favorite bassist, Mikel VK from Night Riots
Senior Sofia Curry cozying up to her favorite bassist, Mikel VK from Night Riots Credits: Sofia Curry
Julianne Nitcher with power couple Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides and Juliet Simms, Tampa native
Julianne Nitcher with power couple Andy Biersack of Black Veil Brides and Juliet Simms, Tampa native                                                                                     Credits: Julianne Nitcher
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Liz Benjamin did not have to travel far to see PVRIS     Credits: Liz Benjamin

  

Senior Sofia Curry sums up Tampa music festivals in general perfectly in just a few sentences, “You may come only knowing a few bands, but you leave wanting to learn about new ones. The people you meet have all the same music taste and love for music as you, which for me has formulated friendships and that’s the beauty of music.”