Gasparilla Music Festival celebrates region’s diverse music scene

2 Feb

A first of its kind in Tampa  Bay, the Gasparilla Music Festival will transform downtown Tampa into a unique concert venue featuring the best music in the region.

The family-friendly event is community funded and organized by the Gasparilla Music Festival Corporation, whose mission is to create a sustainable community event for the Tampa Bay region while promoting arts education and benefiting local organizations and businesses. In addition to the festival, the group will soon be launching a program that will help provide instruments to local school music classes and bands. They will host events to raise funds to purchase new instruments as well as encourage donations of old instruments to school programs.

The group chose the month of March because they saw potential to turn it into a real cultural time of year for Tampa, with the current sidewalk arts festival and film festival taking place during the same month. By adding music to the equation, they hope to give a positive identity to the arts and culture aspect of the city. Eventually they hope to attract audiences from outside the market, but the event will continue to focus on local talent and businesses. “This will always be a distinctively Tampa festival….from the local bands infused into the lineup to the local restaurants and chefs that we will be showcasing with our food selections,” said David Cox, president of the corporation.

The festival will take place March 10, 2012 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and Kiley Gardens Park in downtown Tampa. Gates open at 11 am. Click here for more information, and to purchase a ticket. Bands interested in performing can submit an inquiry online.
by: Megan Hendricks, buzz editor
source: David Cox, president, Gasparilla Music Festival Corporation
Also published in Creative Tampa Bay Buzz, 2.15.12

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