TAMPA, Fla. — Thousands of people will take over Curtis Hixon Park this weekend for the Gasparilla Music Festival.

It’s one of the first music festivals in Tampa Bay since before the pandemic, and organizers are taking extra steps to keep everyone healthy.

This year, in addition to your ticket, you’ll also need to provide proof of a negative COVID test or proof that you’re fully vaccinated.


What You Need To Know


“We followed the lead of a lot of festivals that have gone before us in the last month or so and have done this very successfully.  Artists, we've found, really want this to make sure we're doing these festivals and bringing live music back responsibly and safely,” said Chad Moore with the Gasparilla Music Foundation.

The Gasparilla Music Festival goes from Friday through Sunday with over 40 bands, on four stages, and all genres of music. The rapper, Nas, will headline Saturday night and on Sunday, the band Gov’t Mule.

All proceeds from the event go to a good cause, too. The Gasparilla Music Foundation is a non-profit and 100 percent of its proceeds goes to “Recycled Tunes”, which provides instruments and funding to Title 1 schools, making sure all students can enjoy the benefits of music education.

The Gasparilla Music Festival also provides an opportunity for local artists to showcase their talents— most are from Florida, many are from Tampa Bay.

 

“Part of what makes this festival so unique and special is our celebration of local artists. We bring them up, put them on the stage, give them paying gigs so we nurture that industry right here in Tampa,” said Moore.

Tickets are still available. Event organizers also suggest downloading the Bindle app to make the entry process more efficient. On the app, you can upload your COVID test results and vaccination records.