Toronto punks who grew out of ska into gravel-throated, big-hearted melodic punk. A modern Fest cornerstone with a knack for the last-song-of-the-night singalong.
Melodic punkPunk rock
The Fest 2026 Lineup
Three days, dozens of downtown venues, and hundreds of punk bands: Gainesville's DIY institution, 24 years running.
The Fest is expected back October 2027 (dates aren't announced yet). Until then, here's the full 2026 lineup and the acts you would have loved.
Find the acts you'll love at The Fest
Name a few bands you love and we'll scout all 325 acts on the The Fest bill for the ones you shouldn't miss.
Get notified when The Fest announces 2027 dates
Free account: we'll email you when it's out, and your saved festivals follow you to every device.
About The Fest 2026
The Fest (this year it's Fest 24) is Gainesville, Florida's beloved punk institution, and unlike almost every other festival on this site it isn't a field with four stages. It's a three-day takeover of downtown Gainesville, spreading hundreds of bands across a dozen-plus bars, clubs, and theaters within walking distance of each other. One wristband, a printed schedule, and a weekend of running between rooms: that's the whole ritual.
The sound is punk in the widest sense: melodic and skate punk, gruff Hot Water Music-style anthems, twinkly Midwest emo, third-wave ska, crossover thrash, folk-punk, and the occasional sludge or post-hardcore curveball. The 2026 bill leans hard on reunions and heavy hitters (PUP, Bouncing Souls, Lagwagon, The Flatliners, Sparta, Texas is the Reason, Samiam, A Wilhelm Scream) while giving huge chunks of the schedule to DIY bands, Gainesville locals, and the current ska and emo revivals. Descartes a Kant is off the 2026 bill, and New Junk City plays Friday night at Heartwood rather than Saturday afternoon at The Wooly.
With well over 300 acts, no single person can see it all, and that's the point. Fest rewards wandering: catching a band you've never heard in a half-full bar at 3pm is as much the experience as the marquee reunion at midnight. Use the finder below to point your weekend at the bands most worth your walking shoes.
Expect punk, alternative, rock and punk rock across 325 acts.
At a glance
- Dates
- –Friday to Sunday, three days
- Where
- Gainesville, FL
- Lineup
- 325 acts
- Website
- Official site
The Fest 2026 lineup & schedule: all 325 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.Browse all 325 acts
Search it, filter by day, stage or genre.
Toronto's chaos-pop-punk stars (self-lacerating lyrics, unhinged energy, choruses built to be screamed back until throats give out). As big a name as this fest books.
Punk rockIndie punk
New Bedford's technical-punk lifers, stacking dizzying twin-guitar leads on top of full-throttle melodic hardcore. A Fest institution and one of its most reliable pits.
Melodic hardcoreSkate punk
Asbury Park's forever-young punk anthem factory, with thirty-odd years of gang vocals and open-hearted singalongs. Few bands turn a room into a family faster.
Punk rockPop-punk
Fat Wreck royalty and skate-punk architects, with Joey Cape's melodies over machine-gun drums. Three decades in, still one of the genre's tightest live acts.
Skate punkMelodic hardcore
One of emo's foundational bands, gone almost as fast as they arrived, with glassy guitars and yearning restraint. A reunion set that carries real historical weight.
EmoPost-hardcore
Jim Ward's post-At the Drive-In vehicle, trading that band's spasms for soaring, melodic post-hardcore. A marquee draw and a rare Fest booking.
Post-hardcoreAlternative rock
Berkeley's bridge between 90s melodic punk and emo, with Jason Beebout's ache over big, rolling hooks. Aging beautifully and criminally underrated.
Melodic punkEmo
Allentown drums-and-keys duo with huge, earnest emo-pop from a deceptively small setup, married-couple chemistry included, huge sound from two chairs.
EmoIndie rock
Houston's turn-of-the-millennium pop-punk hitmakers (of 'All My Fault' fame), snotty, catchy, and pure late-'90s nostalgia from the blink-adjacent yearbook.
Pop-punk
Brooklyn gruff-melodic trio with big, aching choruses and an immigrant's-eye lyric sheet, made for the last-hour singalong slot, beers raised.
Melodic punkPunk rock
Philly's breakout ska-rocksteady crew, all vintage warmth and Brittany Luna's magnetic pipes. Leading the current ska revival and built for a dancing crowd.
SkaRocksteady
St. Pete's horror-goofball pop-punk that's fast, dumb-fun, and Ramones-simple, a Florida-scene good time in werewolf masks.
Pop-punkPunk rock
Dayton's snotty, fast pop-punk workhorses: hooks first, attitude close behind, and a release schedule that never sleeps.
Pop-punk
Fort Collins gruff-melodic punks with a literate, self-aware streak and choruses made for arms around shoulders, Colorado's contribution to the whiskey-punk canon.
Melodic punkPunk rock
Edmonton duo splicing oi! stomp with synth-lit post-punk and anthemic 80s gloss. One of the more distinctive sounds on the bill.
Post-punkOi!
Pittsburgh pop-punk survivors with a knack for shiny, earworm choruses, longtime road-dogs who still bring it, twenty-plus years deep.
Pop-punkPower-pop
Chicago punk act in full squash-court regalia, delivering balaclava-clad comedy hardcore built around one absurd, committed character.
Punk
New Junk City
Atlanta band at the gruff, melodic end of punk, with hoarse vocals and hooks built for basement singalongs.
Rock
The Lawrence Arms' motormouth bassist-singer, solo and unfiltered, brings bar-stool wit and self-deprecation over rough acoustic punk, half gig and half stand-up set.
Punk rockFolk-punk
Beloved and long-dormant Philly emo pioneers back from reunion with noodly twinkling guitars, yelped vocals, and pure basement-show joy that a whole generation of Midwest-emo revivalists learned from.
EmoMidwest emo
Tempe-formed punk band with a horn section and a yelping frontman, turning satire and general civic disgust into fast, sweaty desert punk.
Alternative
Chicago melodic-hardcore vets fronted by ER doctor Daryl Wilson, fast, tuneful, and still ferocious decades on, with scene service in every sense.
Melodic hardcorePunk rock
Venezuelan band bending post-hardcore into polyrhythm and tropical percussion, built on years of relentless DIY touring rather than industry backing.
Punk
Todd Congelliere's San Pedro melodic-punk institution (Recess Records), with off-kilter hooks and DIY-lifer charm, the scene's connective tissue.
Punk rockPop-punk
Epitaph-era skate-punk vets with pro-baseball roots and gruff, fast-melodic conviction, playing a deep-catalog set for the '90s SoCal-punk crowd.
Skate punkMelodic hardcore
Austin's beloved late-'90s pop-punk/ska outfit, all sugar-rush hooks and horns, is a nostalgia hit that still detonates live.
Pop-punkSka-punk
Baltimore's co-ed feminist hardcore, with Shawna Potter's righteous fury over pummeling riffs. Confrontational, necessary, and a Fest force.
Hardcore punkFeminist punk
Orange County's warm, melodic post-punk mainstays: Jeff Caudill's earnest hooks over ringing guitars, underrated for decades and built to last.
Melodic punkEmo
Seattle's beer-soaked everyman punks turn bars and day-jobs into gruff singalong anthems, with songs about showing up when life is mid. Deeply Fest-coded.
Punk rock
Gully Boys
Alternative
The former Avail frontman turned gravel-road troubadour, with punk conviction stripped down to an acoustic guitar and hollered truths, train-yard sincerity throughout.
Folk-punkAmericana
Born from the ashes of Braid, Bob Nanna's hookier follow-up offers sharp, wordy emo with real pop instincts. A reunion for the turn-of-the-millennium emo faithful.
EmoIndie rock
Atlanta band threading knotty, jazz-tinged guitar work through plainspoken confessional writing, which makes for emo with the arrangements pulled apart.
Alternative
Detroit post-hardcore that lurches between whisper and full collapse. Long-dormant and much-mythologized, so a Fest set is a genuine event.
Post-hardcoreIndie rock
Another Todd C. vehicle: lo-fi, hyper-catchy, gone-in-90-seconds pop-punk, pure Recess Records energy and communal chant choruses.
Pop-punkPunk rock
Gillian Carter
Punk
Gainesville's own noodly, sad-but-warm emo, a hometown highlight who helped define the modern wave, equal parts twinkle and gut-punch. Expect a partisan crowd.
EmoIndie rock
Mid-nineties Harrisonburg band whose knotty, frantic hardcore fed the Virginia screamo scene that followed, with long-scarce records played live again decades later.
Alternative
Cleveland's literate gruff-melodic band threads emo warmth through punk drive. Understated, quietly essential, and beloved by everyone who's caught them.
Melodic punkEmo
Michigan's gruff, dynamic melodic-hardcore torchbearers, with quiet-loud swells and a hoarse howl. Kindred spirits to the Hot Water Music lineage that runs through Fest.
Melodic hardcoreEmo
Miami's ska-punk agitators, welding horns to hardcore and unapologetically political lyrics. Loud, fast, and made for a downtown block that won't stay still.
Ska-punkHardcore punk
Asheville twinkle-emo with heart-on-sleeve delivery, part of the genre's newest wave and one of its most promising.
EmoMidwest emo
Vinnie Caruana's post-Movielife crew, trading in the kind of scarred, shout-along punk that lands hardest at 1am with your arm around a stranger.
Punk rockPop-punk
Richmond punk with an activist heart and huge, communal choruses (new-ish but already a natural Fest fit), solidarity as setlist.
Punk rockStreet punk
Richmond crossover-thrash featuring Municipal Waste members: blistering, funny, and violently fast, with thirty-song sets over before you catch your breath. The bill's designated whiplash.
Crossover thrashHardcore punk
San Diego punk lifers going since the early nineties, with gravel-throated, self-deprecating songs about drinking and disappointment, played fast and loose.
Punk
DC's frantic, horn-driven ska-punk revivalists, technical, self-aware, and relentlessly fun. Core to the new ska class Fest has embraced.
Ska-punk
Miami's masters of 'thunder-pop' play crushing, downtuned riffs that somehow float on major-key hooks. The heaviest, most physical set on the bill.
Sludge metalStoner rock
Carbondale's Ramones-core standard-bearers play buzzsaw guitars, whoa-ohs, and airtight two-minute hits: pop-punk done exactly right, whoa-ohs guaranteed.
Pop-punk
Birmingham's Lee Bains and the Glory Fires play sweat-soaked Southern rock with punk lungs and pointed politics. A cathartic, gospel-loud set.
Southern rockPunk rock
The Goleta goofballs behind 'Van Halen' and the Buffy theme play power-pop-punk with a sitcom sense of humor. Reliably one of the weekend's most fun sets.
Pop-punkGeek rock
Mississippi ska with a horn section and a big voice, part of the modern ska class packing Fest dance floors.
Ska-punk
Gainesville country-punk led by a strong voice and a barroom heart: the Sunday-morning end of the Fest spectrum, hangover-friendly and lovely.
Alt-countryAmericana
Fort Collins' punks-gone-country, led by ALL's Chad Price and Jon Snodgrass, with whiskey-worn harmonies and heartland ache. Fest's morning-after soundtrack.
Alt-countryCowpunk
Montreal's long-running traditional-ska party band. Horns, dance moves, and singalongs add up to a guaranteed good time on a sweaty Gainesville stage.
Ska
Grand Rapids' third-wave ska lifers, built for skanking. Relentlessly upbeat, horns blazing, zero cynicism: exactly the palate-cleanser a punk weekend needs.
Ska-punk
F.Y.P
Alternative
Gainesville gruff-melodic punk, a hometown act primed for a hometown crowd, with singalongs pre-loaded and Fest-family energy guaranteed.
Melodic punkGruff punk
Five Hundred Bucks
Punk
Teenage Gainesville thrash duo of drums and guitar playing old-school speed riffs, already trusted to open for crossover pioneers D.R.I.
Thrash metal
Won't Stay Dead
Rock
Orlando gruff-melodic punks with sharp, politically charged hooks and a Florida-scene stalwart's big-hearted songwriting, with no patience for the powerful.
Punk rockMelodic punk
Oh the Humanity!
Punk
Hyperdog
Punk
Tired Radio
Punk
Bad DOG
Alternative folk
Moral Less Right
Rock
Hoist the Colors
Alternative
MooseCreek Park
Long Island band formed in 2021, working a scrappy alternative sound out of the island's long DIY lineage.
Alternative
New Forms
Punk
Home Boys
Off Day
Rock
The Cherry Bombs
Rock
Bike Tuff
Alternative
Brooklyn band since 2016, writing melodic punk that leans into self-deprecation and worn-down honesty rather than anthems.
Punk
The Slow Retreat
Rock
Walking Blue
Alternative
Spoil
Hardcore
Philadelphia emo with a pop-punk backbone, built on plainspoken diaristic lyrics about anxiety, doubt and self-repair.
Alternative
Night Mayor
Rock
Tightwire
Pop punk
Leg Biters
Punk
winded
Rock
Spaceman Bob
Hip-hop
i.liedtomyself
Rock
Choke Up
Rock
TrashWorldFL
Metal
Direct Order'82
Excuse Me, Who Are You?
Rock
Ceramicats
Alternative
Gazee
Alternative
HLLLYH
Rock
Awful Din
Alternative
Days Spent
Alternative
Dead Sea Lords
Metal
Arcadia Grey
Alternative
Crucial Fix
Asbury Park group pairing reverb-soaked surf guitar with bright pop hooks that turn out to be a lot bleaker than they first sound.
Surf rockIndie pop
Hew
Rock
300 Usd
Punk
Kiss the Scientist
Alternative
Memory Entry
Alternative
The Strange Ones
Punk
Worst Party Ever
Rock
Crush Fund
Punk
Orange Blossom Trail
Alternative
Bashful
Punk rock
Little Low
Punk
Cape Crush
Alternative
Heavy Lag
Punk
Watts
Hardcore punk
Pony
Alternative
Philadelphia indie rock collective built on Blue Barnett's songs, slow-burning post-emo in the vein of The Beths and Hop Along.
Indie rockEmo
Mike & The Nerve
Rock
secondSELF
Punk
boy clothes
Alternative
Woolbright
Rock
Atlanta four-piece pulling post-punk, darkwave and noise rock together, with a synthesizer riding over guitar, bass and drums.
Post-punkDarkwaveNoise rock
Quiet Fear
Punk
Huntsville's twinkly, sometimes-screamed emo is intricate and emotionally maximal, a cult name in the genre's online canon.
EmoScreamo
Chicago power pop made by punk lifers from This Is My Fist! and The Brokedowns, crunchy guitars carrying a bleak view of the world toward joy.
Power pop
trustfall
Gainesville four-piece playing indie rock with alternative and pop leanings, known for dueling guitar solos and a lot of thrown bananas.
Indie rockAlternative
Shrug Dealer
Punk
Flowers for Emily
Alternative
The Barbed Wires
Punk
Chad Matheny's brainy, restless indie-folk project, with science-teacher lyrics and lo-fi urgency, and songs like field recordings from a collapsing future. A left-field Fest gem.
Indie rockFolk
Measurement
Punk
Horsewhip
Punk
Suck Brick Kid
Alternative
Porch Coffin
Punk
Hawgs
Toledo band working the twinkling, wordy end of Midwest guitar music, with the scrappy energy of records made among friends rather than in studios.
Rock
Worse Off
Punk
Don't Panic
Rock
Drought
Punk
Freezing Cold
Indie rock
rubes
Rock
DC/Baltimore chaotic hardcore fronted by Maha Shami: searing, political, and cathartic, carrying the region's screamo lineage forward.
Hardcore punkScreamo
Glazed
Alternative
Canadian Rifle
Punk
The Ergs! drummer-turned-frontman is a walking encyclopedia of pop-punk hooks: prolific, beloved, and seemingly playing five sets everywhere at Fest.
Pop-punk
The Dreaded Laramie
Alternative
Pressure Set
Punk
Double Jointed
Punk
Sunday Morning
Emo
Reconciler
Atlanta group working the melodic end of punk with gruff, heart-on-sleeve songs about getting older without getting quieter.
Alternative
Dear Maryanne
Punk
Spells
Punk
Pink Slip
Rock
the yaupon holly
Cuni
Alternative
Miller Lowlifes
Punk
Rotating covers project of Sell The Heart Records bandmates that takes on a different band's songbook each time it reconvenes.
Alternative rock
Sleep Club
Rock
Chilled Monkey Brains
Rock
Human Issue
Punk
Bad, Bad Things
Rock
Pollyanna
Alternative
Sweet Gloom
Pop punk
The Ghost You Know
Alternative
The Rat Utopia Experiment
Tacoma's girl-fronted circus-punk band, pulling grunge, riot grrrl and nu-metal into a theatrical, politically charged live show.
PunkAlternative
Anchorite
Punk
Legitimate Business
Rock
Trash The Rental
Rock
Worlds Scariest Police Chases
Punk
Bronson Arm
Punk
Mass Panic
Metal
Nick and The Adversaries
Rock
Summerbruise
Indianapolis band working the Midwest emo lineage since 2017, with knotty guitar lines, self-deprecating lyrics and choruses built for a room shouting along.
Alternative
Boss' Daughter
Punk
Hell Beach
Punk
Jen Pop
Solo acoustic project of Jen Razavi of The Bombpops, trading that band's volume for stripped-down songs of her own.
Acoustic punkSinger-songwriter
The Effigies
Metal
Luca Prodan's Buenos Aires group, who spliced post-punk and reggae into Argentine rock across six years before his death in 1987. Foundational, and still argued about.
ambretta
Metal
The Doomstompers
Ska-punkPunk
Big Sad
Rock
Nashville's moody, melodic emo with hazy guitars, heavy hearts, and slow-burn dynamics in the Balance and Composure school. A mid-day set for the introspective.
EmoIndie rock
Long-running Chicago-via-Phoenix melodic punks who are gruff, fast, and criminally slept-on, lifers with a record collection's worth of craft.
Skate punkMelodic hardcore
Teddy DuChamp's Army
Rock
Medians
Rock
Cutman
Alternative
Damage Done
Punk
The Boy Detective
Alternative
Madison Bloodbath
Alternative
One Fall
Rock
Tides
Chimes
Good Teal
Punk
Sleep in.
Alternative
Supersonic (Oasis Cover Set)
future forms
Mega Infinity
Rock
Tampa gruff-punk vets with bar-band heart and worn-in singalongs, longtime Fest family with the crowd to prove it.
Punk rockGruff punk
For Dear Life
Alternative
Hospital Job
Punk
Punchy Atlanta garage-pop with singalong nihilism, clingy guitar hooks, and a swaggering lean into Aussie trash rock, made for sweaty rooms.
Garage rockIndie rockPower pop
Lansing, Michigan punk band trading in loud, scrappy, heart-on-sleeve songs, with basement-show energy that survives the move to bigger rooms.
Rock
the feat
Rock
Ill Star
Alternative
Sorry Sweetheart
Punk
Common Sage
Punk
Panthro U.K. United 13
Alternative
Fat Heaven
Rock
Heart & Lung
Rock
Liquid Limbs
Boston Marriage
Alternative
Feversleep
Emo
Seeker
Metal
Title Holder
Alternative
New Jersey gruff-melodic punk with earnest hooks and a road-worn heart, offering Menzingers-school singalongs for the beard-and-flannel faithful.
Punk rockMelodic punk
English folk-punk troubadour with a big heart and a bigger singalong, solo, disarming, and beloved across the punk circuit.
Folk-punkSinger-songwriter
Loris
Minorcan
Rock
Orbiter
Metal
Smelter
Alternative
Milwaukee third-wave ska vets, still skanking after all these years, with horns up and irony nowhere in sight.
Ska-punk
Stunner
Metal
Gab De La Vega
Punk
Houseghost
Punk
The Moms
Rock
Pressure Wheel
Rock
Pwrup
Punk
Skeletizer
Black Guy Fawkes
Punk
Clearance Bongwater Revival
Her Head's On Fire
Emo
Brightr
Alternative
Joker's Republic
Essex County ska punk, together since 2017, working the upstroke-and-shout end of the northern New Jersey circuit.
Punk
Thunderclap
Alternative
Beinn
Rock
Easy Money, Inc.
Orca
Hardcore punk
Jared Knapik
Rock
Molly McGuire
Rock
Sandcrawler
Metal
The Bomb That Will Bring Us Together
Doom Scroll
Punk
Voice of ALL and Drag the River, going it alone, with that unmistakable rasp over country-tinged punk in a songwriter's set from a scene lifer.
Alt-countryPunk rock
Glitter-covered art-poet from Portland, Maine, blending folk punk, screamo and rap into songs about grief, recovery, mental health and cartoon lore.
Hip-hopFolk-punkScreamo
Middle-Out
Punk
The Overjoyed
Punk
Baltimore songwriter who came up busking New York's subways and the Sidewalk Café scene, now seven albums into a life of relentless DIY touring.
Folk-punkSinger-songwriter
Dirty Rotten Revenge
Rock
sawpaw
Alternative
Brave You
Punk
Maxwelltheband
Alternative
Middle-Aged Queers
Punk
Brook Pridemore
Brooklyn songwriter out of the anti-folk scene, pushing acoustic guitar and a shouted vocal toward folk punk.
Alternative
Southern California ska with sunny keys and a charismatic frontperson, pure feel-good, third-wave optimism with real songcraft.
Ska
Montreal's swaggering party-punk force: riff-first, cowbell-friendly, and built to blow the roof off. One of the weekend's most kinetic sets.
Punk rockGarage punk
Jackie + The Mosquito Bites
Blind Adam and The Federal League
Caitlin Edwards
Punk
Age of Kid
Punk
Burnt Tapes
Punk
Bay Area duo threading giddy, lopsided indie rock through fuzz and abrupt tempo turns, with short songs that end before they outstay the hook.
Alternative
Athens, GA punk with fuzz, hooks, and dual vocals, high-energy, road-tested, and built for the late-night slot.
Punk rockGarage punk
Ryan Cassata & The Top Surgeons
Bat Boy
Pop punk
Gainesville brass band of five horns and a drum kit that calls its sound brass funk, or on louder nights brass metal.
Brass bandFunk
Model Martel
Emo
The Crosses
Rock
Arid Wave
Rock
The voice of Braid and Hey Mercedes, solo and intimate, delivering foundational Midwest emo up close, with the stories between songs part of the draw.
EmoIndie rock
Christy Costello & The CC Club
Nashville ska-core with a political edge and hardcore muscle under the horns, giving skanking and moshing equal time.
Ska-punkHardcore
Tucson songwriter of self-described goof-punk and dork-rock, a veteran of hundreds of basement shows who also runs an all-ages DIY venue back home.
PunkSinger-songwriter
The Joytraders
Rock
Lamonta
Punk
New Brunswick ska-core with crust in its veins: fast, dark, and rowdy, with horns over hardcore drums.
Ska-punk
Vic Bondi And His Issues
La Versión Extendida de las Cosas
Rock
The Low Blow
Alternative
Evening Standards
Rock
Atlanta crew playing scrappy, acoustic-scarred punk with a gang-vocal streak, and road-worn songs about getting by.
Rock
Hey! TV Boy!
Punk
Sad Snack
Punk
New Jersey outfit dealing in short, blunt songs with nothing padded out. Hardcore at its most economical.
Punk
The Bad Ups
Rock
All I Hear Is Birds
Rock
Feeble Strength
Alternative
Seagulls
Atlanta punk band of self-described middle-aged abominations who play fast, screech, and treat every set like a raid on your lunch.
Punk
Dead Selves
Metal
Wordplay
Grimy Toronto punk band, mostly straight ahead and lately branching out into stranger territory.
Punk
The Caution Children
Metal
The Mermers
Rock
The Subjunctives
Rock
Back East
Punk
Pretty Bitter
Alternative
Gottlieb
Punk
Tombstonehead
Sybris
Alternative
Gun Died Laughing
Punk
Buffalo hardcore with NYHC bounce and a frontwoman who commands the pit: Fest's dose of full-contact energy, delivered with a grin.
HardcoreBeatdown hardcore
New Brunswick basement-scene band trading in short, scrappy songs that pair twinkly guitar figures with genuine post-hardcore bite.
Punk
Bumsy and The Moochers
Punk
Octopoulpe
Rock
Too Many Daves
Tampa punk band whose members are nearly all named Dave, trading in fast, snotty first-wave punk in the Ramones and Misfits mold.
Punk rock
New Jersey songwriter and bassist of The Moms, fronting his own band The Fungools behind a debut LP on the Chunksaah label.
Punk rock
Kitty Kitty Meow Meow
Punk
Bobby Edge Band
Queer honky-tonk out of Brooklyn, with pedal steel, piano and plainspoken songwriting that puts gay life at the center of country tradition.
Country
Thrull
Punk
Flagman
Metal
Adjust the Sails
Alternative
Cooper!
American Dream Survivors
Rock
Slackrr
Punk
Supertwin
Alternative
The Albert Square
Indie rock
Jumpstarted Plowhards
Punk
Oh Ya and the You Betchas
Sacramento sisters churning out bratty, hooky garage-punk that's fun, fast, and tight, with Ramones economy and sibling-locked harmonies.
Pop-punkGarage punk
Rent Strike
Punk
Teen Agers
Alternative
0 Miles Per Hour
Alternative
New Eagles
Nomore
Confession Kids
Folk
Antwerp band with big energy and a heartfelt streak, already a support act for The Story So Far and Trophy Eyes and a UK tour partner of Youth Fountain.
Pop-punkEmo
Dear Cincinnati
Alternative
Makeup Remover
Rock
Mystery Band
The headliners
A Wilhelm Scream · New Bedford's technical-punk lifers, stacking dizzying twin-guitar leads on top of full-throttle melodic hardcore. A Fest institution and one of its most reliable pits. Technical melodic-hardcore lifers and a Fest institution; reliably one of the wildest pits.
Bouncing Souls · Asbury Park's forever-young punk anthem factory, with thirty-odd years of gang vocals and open-hearted singalongs. Few bands turn a room into a family faster. Thirty years of forever-young punk anthems; few sets turn a crowd into a family faster.The Flatliners · Toronto punks who grew out of ska into gravel-throated, big-hearted melodic punk. A modern Fest cornerstone with a knack for the last-song-of-the-night singalong.
Lagwagon · Fat Wreck royalty and skate-punk architects, with Joey Cape's melodies over machine-gun drums. Three decades in, still one of the genre's tightest live acts. Fat Wreck skate-punk architects, still one of the tightest live acts in the genre.
PUP · Toronto's chaos-pop-punk stars (self-lacerating lyrics, unhinged energy, choruses built to be screamed back until throats give out). As big a name as this fest books. About as big as Fest books: Toronto's chaos-pop-punk stars turn any room into a sweaty, screamed-back singalong.
Samiam · Berkeley's bridge between 90s melodic punk and emo, with Jason Beebout's ache over big, rolling hooks. Aging beautifully and criminally underrated.
Sparta · Jim Ward's post-At the Drive-In vehicle, trading that band's spasms for soaring, melodic post-hardcore. A marquee draw and a rare Fest booking. Jim Ward's post-At the Drive-In vehicle; a marquee draw and a rare Fest booking.
Texas is the Reason · One of emo's foundational bands, gone almost as fast as they arrived, with glassy guitars and yearning restraint. A reunion set that carries real historical weight. A foundational emo band reuniting, a set that carries real historical weight.
Up-and-comers to catch early
Catbite · Philly's breakout ska-rocksteady crew leading the current revival: pure dance-floor joy.
Kill Lincoln · DC's frantic, horn-driven ska-punk; core to the new ska class Fest has embraced.MakeWar · Brooklyn gruff-melodic trio built for the last-hour, arm-around-a-stranger singalong.
NOBRO · Montreal's swaggering party-punk: one of the most kinetic sets you'll catch all weekend.
Home Front · Edmonton duo splicing oi! stomp with synth-lit post-punk; one of the bill's most distinctive sounds.
Spaced · Buffalo hardcore with NYHC bounce and a frontwoman who owns the pit.
Kerosene Heights · Asheville twinkle-emo riding the genre's newest wave, heart fully on sleeve.
Dead Bars · Seattle's beer-soaked everyman punks, about as Fest-coded as a band can get.
Other acts worth planning around
Torche · Miami's 'thunder-pop': the heaviest, most physical set on the whole bill.
Iron Reagan · Municipal Waste members playing blistering, funny crossover thrash: the weekend's whiplash.
Tim Barry · Avail's frontman solo and acoustic; a quieter Fest ritual that still ends in full-throated singing.
The lineup by day
Friday lineup (October 23)
A Wilhelm Scream, The Flatliners, PUP, Algernon Cadwallader, Home Front, The Impossibles + 100 more
Friday set times (106 sets)
- Slingshot Dakota · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- Five Hundred Bucks · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- Won't Stay Dead · Loosey's
- Ghost Rat · The Bull
- Debt Neglector · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- Oh the Humanity! · Heartwood
- Tired Radio · Vivid Music Hall
- Hyperdog · The Atlantic
- Bad DOG · The Bull
- Moral Less Right · Loosey's
- Fenix Tx · Heartwood
- Hoist the Colors · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- MooseCreek Park · Depot Village
- New Forms · The Backyard
- MakeWar · Vivid Music Hall
- Home Boys · The Atlantic
- The Cherry Bombs · Loosey's
- Off Day · The Bull
- Cold Wrecks · Heartwood
- Bike Tuff · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- The Slow Retreat · Bazaar47
- Walking Blue · Depot Village
- Spoil · The Backyard
- Catbite · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Wolf-Face · Heartwood
- Hit Like A Girl · The Wooly
- Tightwire · Vivid Music Hall
- Night Mayor · The Atlantic
- Leg Biters · The Bull
- winded · Loosey's
- The Raging Nathans · First Magnitude Brewing Co.
- Spaceman Bob · Bazaar47
- i.liedtomyself · Depot Village
- Choke Up · Heartwood
- TrashWorldFL · The Backyard
- Direct Order'82 · The Atlantic
- Excuse Me, Who Are You? · The Wooly
- Home Front · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Elway · Vivid Music Hall
- Ceramicats · The Bull
- Gazee · Loosey's
- Punchline · Heartwood
- HLLLYH · Bazaar47
- Awful Din · Depot Village
- Days Spent · The Backyard
- Dead Sea Lords · The Atlantic
- Arcadia Grey · The Wooly
- Crucial Fix · The Bull
- Dentist · Loosey's
- Hew · Heartwood
- The Flatliners · Bo Diddley Plaza
- The Eradicator · Vivid Music Hall
- 300 Usd · Bazaar47
- Kiss the Scientist · Depot Village
- New Junk City · Heartwood
- Memory Entry · The Backyard
- The Strange Ones · The Atlantic
- Worst Party Ever · The Wooly
- Crush Fund · Loosey's
- Orange Blossom Trail · The Bull
- Little Low · Heartwood
- Bashful · Bazaar47
- Brendan Kelly · Vivid Music Hall
- Cape Crush · Depot Village
- Algernon Cadwallader · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Heavy Lag · The Atlantic
- Watts · The Backyard
- Playboy Manbaby · Heartwood
- Pony · The Wooly
- Best Bear · Loosey's
- Mike & The Nerve · The Bull
- secondSELF · Bazaar47
- Woolbright · Heartwood
- boy clothes · Depot Village
- The Bollweevils · Vivid Music Hall
- Quiet Fear · The Backyard
- Psychic Death · The Atlantic
- Camping in Alaska · The Wooly
- Zeta · Heartwood
- Time Thieves · Loosey's
- trustfall · The Bull
- PUP · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Shrug Dealer · Bazaar47
- Flowers for Emily · Depot Village
- The Barbed Wires · The Atlantic
- Toys That Kill · Vivid Music Hall
- Emperor X · The Wooly
- Measurement · Loosey's
- Horsewhip · The Backyard
- Suck Brick Kid · Bazaar47
- Porch Coffin · Depot Village
- Hawgs · The Atlantic
- Pulley · Vivid Music Hall
- Equipment · The Wooly
- Worse Off · Loosey's
- Don't Panic · Bazaar47
- Drought · The Backyard
- Freezing Cold · Depot Village
- rubes · The Atlantic
- The Impossibles · The Wooly
- War On Women · Loosey's
- A Wilhelm Scream · Vivid Music Hall
- Gameface · Bazaar47
- NØ MAN · The Backyard
- Dead Bars · The Atlantic
- Glazed · Depot Village
Saturday lineup (October 24)
Bouncing Souls, Lagwagon, PUP, Texas is the Reason, Against All Authority, Bear Vs. Shark + 127 more
Saturday set times (135 sets)
- Canadian Rifle · The Backyard
- The Dreaded Laramie · Bo Diddley Plaza & Loosey's
- Mikey Erg · University Club
- Pressure Set · The Backyard
- Sunday Morning · Heartwood
- Double Jointed · Depot Village
- Gully Boys · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Reconciler · University Club
- Dear Maryanne · Heartwood
- Spells · The Backyard
- Tim Barry · The Bull
- Pink Slip · Depot Village
- the yaupon holly · Bazaar47
- Cuni · Heartwood
- Miller Lowlifes · University Club
- Hey Mercedes · Bo Diddley Plaza
- worlds greatest dad · Heartwood
- Fresh Pots!! · Loosey's
- Sleep Club · The Atlantic
- Dead Bars · The Bull
- Chilled Monkey Brains · Depot Village
- Human Issue · Bazaar47
- Bad, Bad Things · University Club
- Pollyanna · Heartwood
- Bear Vs. Shark · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Elway · The Bull
- Sweet Gloom · Loosey's
- The Ghost You Know · The Atlantic
- The Rat Utopia Experiment · Vivid Music Hall
- Anchorite · Bazaar47
- Legitimate Business · Depot Village
- Slingshot Dakota · Heartwood
- Trash The Rental · University Club
- The Underground Railroad to Candyland · The Backyard
- Worlds Scariest Police Chases · The Wooly
- Tightwire · The Bull & Loosey's
- Gillian Carter · Vivid Music Hall
- Tired Radio · Loosey's
- Bronson Arm · The Atlantic
- Summerbruise · Heartwood
- Mass Panic · Bazaar47
- Nick and The Adversaries · Depot Village
- The Impossibles · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Boss' Daughter · University Club
- Hell Beach · The Wooly
- Jen Pop · The Bull
- Dikembe · Heartwood
- The Effigies · The Backyard
- Won't Stay Dead · Loosey's
- Sumo · The Atlantic
- sleepytime trio · Vivid Music Hall
- ambretta · Bazaar47
- The Doomstompers · Depot Village
- Big Sad · University Club
- Daisyhead · Heartwood
- Horace Pinker · The Backyard
- Teddy DuChamp's Army · The Wooly
- PUP · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Medians · The Bull
- Cutman · The Atlantic
- Signals Midwest · Heartwood
- The Boy Detective · Depot Village
- Damage Done · Bazaar47
- Madison Bloodbath · University Club
- Small Brown Bike · Vivid Music Hall
- One Fall · The Wooly
- Tides · The Backyard
- Chimes · The Bull
- Sleep in. · Heartwood
- Good Teal · The Atlantic
- Supersonic (Oasis Cover Set) · Loosey's
- Against All Authority · Bo Diddley Plaza
- future forms · Bazaar47
- Mega Infinity · Depot Village
- The Tim Version · University Club
- Kerosene Heights · Heartwood
- Hospital Job · The Wooly
- For Dear Life · The Backyard
- Ultra Lights · The Bull
- Rodeo Boys · Loosey's
- the feat · The Atlantic
- Sorry Sweetheart · Depot Village
- Ill Star · Bazaar47
- Common Sage · Heartwood
- Panthro U.K. United 13 · University Club
- Bouncing Souls · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Fat Heaven · The Wooly
- Heart & Lung · The Backyard
- Liquid Limbs · Vivid Music Hall
- Boston Marriage · The Bull
- I Am the Avalanche · Heartwood
- Wolf-Face · Loosey's
- Feversleep · The Atlantic
- Seeker · Bazaar47
- Title Holder · Depot Village
- Banquets · The Wooly
- Sam Russo · The Backyard
- Gameface · Heartwood
- Loris · The Bull
- Minorcan · Baby J's Bar
- Orbiter · Vivid Music Hall
- Hit Like A Girl · Loosey's
- Smelter · The Atlantic
- Lagwagon · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Something to Do · Depot Village
- Stunner · Bazaar47
- Texas is the Reason · Heartwood
- Houseghost · The Backyard
- The Moms · The Wooly
- Gab De La Vega · Baby J's Bar
- War On Women · Vivid Music Hall
- Pressure Wheel · The Atlantic
- Pwrup · Depot Village
- Skeletizer · Bazaar47
- Black Guy Fawkes · Baby J's Bar
- The Iron Roses · The Wooly
- Clearance Bongwater Revival · Loosey's
- Her Head's On Fire · The Atlantic
- Iron Reagan · Vivid Music Hall
- Brightr · Baby J's Bar
- Joker's Republic · Depot Village
- Thunderclap · Bazaar47
- The Raging Nathans · The Backyard
- Tiltwheel · Baby J's Bar
- Beinn · The Atlantic
- Easy Money, Inc. · Loosey's
- Kill Lincoln · Depot Village
- Orca · Bazaar47
- Torche · Vivid Music Hall
- Jared Knapik · Baby J's Bar
- The Bomb That Will Bring Us Together · Loosey's
- Molly McGuire · The Atlantic
- Sandcrawler · Bazaar47
Sunday lineup (October 25)
Bouncing Souls, Samiam, Sparta, Mustard Plug, Nerf Herder, The Planet Smashers + 103 more
Sunday set times (109 sets)
- Doom Scroll · The Bull
- Dead Bars · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Chad Price · Baby J's Bar
- Myles Bullen · The Bull
- Middle-Out · The Atlantic
- The Overjoyed · Loosey's
- Matt Pless · The Bull
- Rodeo Boys · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Tired Radio · Baby J's Bar
- Dirty Rotten Revenge · The Atlantic
- sawpaw · Depot Village
- Brave You · Bazaar47
- Maxwelltheband · Loosey's
- Middle-Aged Queers · The Backyard
- MakeWar · Baby J's Bar
- Half Past Two · Heartwood
- NOBRO · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Brook Pridemore · The Bull
- Jackie + The Mosquito Bites · University Club
- Blind Adam and The Federal League · Depot Village
- Caitlin Edwards · The Atlantic
- Star 99 · Bazaar47
- Age of Kid · Heartwood
- Burnt Tapes · Loosey's
- Gameface · Baby J's Bar
- Shehehe · The Backyard
- The Copyrights · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Ryan Cassata & The Top Surgeons · The Bull
- Sooza · Heartwood
- Bat Boy · University Club
- Lee Bains · Depot Village
- The Crosses · The Wooly
- Model Martel · The Atlantic
- Arcadia Grey · Bazaar47
- Arid Wave · Loosey's
- Bob Nanna · Baby J's Bar
- Christy Costello & The CC Club · The Backyard
- Stuck Lucky · Heartwood
- Logan Greene · The Bull
- Nerf Herder · Bo Diddley Plaza
- The Joytraders · University Club
- Tim Barry · Depot Village
- The Best of the Worst · Heartwood
- Vic Bondi And His Issues · The Wooly
- Lamonta · The Atlantic
- La Versión Extendida de las Cosas · Loosey's
- The Low Blow · Bazaar47
- Evening Standards · The Backyard
- The Wild · The Bull
- Hey! TV Boy! · University Club
- Sad Snack · Heartwood
- The Bad Ups · The Atlantic
- School Drugs · The Wooly
- Sparta · Bo Diddley Plaza
- All I Hear Is Birds · Bazaar47
- Feeble Strength · Loosey's
- Flying Raccoon Suit · Heartwood
- Whiskey & Co. · Depot Village
- Seagulls · The Backyard
- Dead Selves · The Bull
- Wordplay · University Club
- The Caution Children · The Wooly
- The Mermers · Heartwood
- The Subjunctives · The Atlantic
- Back East · Loosey's
- Pretty Bitter · Bazaar47
- Samiam · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Gottlieb · The Backyard
- The Planet Smashers · Heartwood
- Drag the River · Depot Village
- Tombstonehead · The Bull
- Sybris · University Club
- Spaced · The Wooly
- Gun Died Laughing · The Atlantic
- Ogbert the Nerd · Bazaar47
- Bumsy and The Moochers · Heartwood
- Octopoulpe · Loosey's
- Too Many Daves · The Backyard
- Jonathan Francis · The Bull
- Kitty Kitty Meow Meow · University Club
- Bouncing Souls · Bo Diddley Plaza
- Mustard Plug · Heartwood
- Bobby Edge Band · The Atlantic
- Paisley Fields · Depot Village
- Thrull · The Wooly
- Sweet Gloom · Bazaar47
- Gillian Carter · Loosey's
- Flagman · The Backyard
- Adjust the Sails · The Bull
- Cooper! · University Club
- American Dream Survivors · Depot Village
- Slackrr · The Atlantic
- Supertwin · The Wooly
- The Albert Square · Bazaar47
- Jumpstarted Plowhards · The Backyard
- Oh Ya and the You Betchas · Loosey's
- Dog Party · University Club
- Rent Strike · Depot Village
- Teen Agers · The Atlantic
- 0 Miles Per Hour · Bazaar47
- Tiltwheel · The Backyard
- New Eagles · Loosey's
- Nomore · University Club
- Confession Kids · Depot Village
- Spare Kid · The Atlantic
- Dear Cincinnati · Bazaar47
- F.Y.P · The Backyard
- Makeup Remover · University Club
- You Vandal · The Atlantic
The Fest 2026 lineup FAQ
When and where is The Fest 2026?
Fest 24 runs October 23–25, 2026, across venues in downtown Gainesville, Florida. It's a walkable, multi-venue festival rather than a single fairground. One pass gets you into shows at bars, clubs, and theaters throughout the weekend.
How many bands play The Fest?
Well over 300 acts across the three days: everything from reunited headliners to Gainesville locals and DIY bands on their first tour. The full lineup is listed below.
What kind of music is The Fest?
Punk in every dialect: melodic and skate punk, gruff/Hot Water Music-style anthems, Midwest emo, third-wave ska, crossover thrash, folk-punk, and some post-hardcore and sludge. If you like any corner of punk, there's a room for you.
Do I need a pass, or can I go to a single show?
The Fest is built around a weekend pass that gets you into all the venues (subject to room capacity, since popular sets fill up, so arrive early). Some individual shows may sell single tickets, but the pass is how most people do Fest. Check the official site for current pass and ticketing details.
I've never been to The Fest — any tips?
Pick a handful of must-see bands, then leave room to wander; discovering an unknown band in a half-empty bar is the whole point. Venues are close together but the big sets fill up, so line up early for those and stay flexible for everything else.
When is The Fest 2027?
The Fest is expected back in October 2027; the festival has not announced the 2027 dates yet. The 2026 lineup stays on this page until it does.
More festivals
Festivals in October 2026Music festivals in FloridaMore Punk festivalsMore Alternative festivalsMore Rock festivalsFull festival calendar