April 26, 2023 • 8 mins
The Gasparilla Music Festival returns along downtown Tampa's riverfront this weekend (April 29-30). We speak with Kelly Bustin, a member of the board that runs the festival.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. The Guest Brilla Music Festival, founded
in twenty eleven, is back fortwenty twenty three. It's taking place Saturday,
April twenty ninth and Sunday April thirtiethin downtown Tampa at Curtis Sixon Park
and other sites. Kelly Buston ison the board that runs the Guest Brilla
Music Festival, and she joins uson Beyond the News. Kelly, welcome,
(00:23):
Hi, now having me glad tohave you. Now, the physical
layout of the event is going tobe, I understand a little bit different
this year than in previous years.So if you could kind of get into
this and tell us what's going onwith the Kylie Gardens and the Strais Center
and all of that. Yeah,so we there there has been some issues
(00:45):
with the utilizing Kylie Gardens for specialevents. I think the City of Temple
will notice that there are no eventscurrently being scheduled to be held up in
Kylie Gardens, which is obviously heartbreakingfor us in our twelfth year where we've
really found our home on the waterin Curtis Hixon and using Kylie Gardens.
However, you know, we wantedto charge forward with our mission and make
(01:07):
sure that we deliver an incredible musicfestival and experience for the community. So
we are doing what we are callinga hybrid event this year. So we
will still be utilizing Curtis Hickson Parkfor our main stage, also serving as
the main entrance of the festival,and we will have additional satellite stages.
So we have another stage that isgoing to be out behind the Stras Center,
(01:33):
and then two additional satellite stages,one at Sparkman Wharf and another one
at the Sale Pavilion which is locatedbehind the Convention Center. All four stages
are accessible by the Riverwalk or watertaxi. However, the stages at Curtis
Hickson and the Stras will be forticket holders only. So the two satellite
(01:56):
stages that are a little bit morea little bit farther away at the un
Wharf and the Sale Pavilion will befree for anybody who is in the area
that wants to listen to the musicor be involved in that in that area.
But the two stages that are onthe other side of the river Walk,
which are Curtis Hickson and the Strats, will be for ticketed ticketed patrons
(02:23):
and we'll talk about ticketing and missionparking and all that in a moment.
So talk with us about the lineup, what x can we expect this year
and what are some items, someacts that we might might really want to
see in here. Oh my gosh, well all of them. We've got
some really incredible artists lined up.And you know, to cute us to
(02:46):
our staff, our GMF staff thatreally they have just been grinding. We
have thrown this festival together in sixweeks. So anybody that knows about throwing
a big party and booking talent thatis no easy feat to do in a
long period of time, and specificallyto do it in a short period of
time and to come up with theline of it that they have. We
(03:07):
are super super excited. So Saturdaywe have some of the bigger names or
the names that people might be interestedin is We've got a band called Canons,
so they will be playing kind ofmidday later later in the day.
Also big Head Todd and the Monsters, which is another big, big name
(03:29):
that a lot of our guests willdefinitely enjoy. And then direct support term
Aid. Headliner is a super funky, fun band called Chromeo and then headlining
Saturday Night, we have the hiphop icons Run the Jewels, and they
have not been to Tampa, andI think I don't I mean, I
(03:49):
might be wrong, but I thinkthey haven't been here in like ten or
fifteen years. So it's a it'sa really big thing for Tampa to have
these these icons coming. And thenSunday, which I always loved Sunday because
it seems like a little bit moreof a relaxed feel. We will have
some of the bands we have RisingAppalachia, another one of my favorites,
(04:10):
local natives who will be direct supportto what's known as Jay Rad, Joe
Russo's Almost Dead, and those that'sgoing to be our headliner for Sunday night.
And then we have tons and tonsof local talent. It would take
this whole pod, this whole timethat I have allotted to myself to name
everybody, but we're going to havetons of local talent that's going to be
spread out throughout the city through overthe entire weekend, which is really awesome
(04:33):
for us. This year, we'rereally excited about the opportunity to have these
satellite stages because I believe or webelieve that we will be able to impact
a lot of people that might notknow about Gasper and Music Festival and that
will they'll say, wow, thisis going on. There's music happening all
over the city. So it's it'sreally kind of a neat thing for us
to be able to do it thisway. And now, of course,
(04:55):
your festival is also known for itsamenities, for its food and some of
the other aspects of the events,so tell us about that and what people
can expect. So we always havea great lineup of food vendors, all
local vendors always that we utilize atGMF. UM. We we've got I
(05:17):
mean, I'm just trying to thinkoff the top of my head some of
the vendors that we have this year. I was looking for the list and
I don't really have it in frontof me, but the Cali Casina,
We've got, Big Race, FishCamp, Big Red Barbecue Cafe, Hey
China, Chillbros. Our headline,our title sponsor, which is Copper Tailed
(05:39):
Brewing, Donation, Leavage ConA Ice, Lollies, Mexican Crabies. I mean,
they're all Nebraska, Minny Martise,are all local restaurants. So we
only utilize local restaurants and vendors forour festival. And of course all this
supports a nonprofit that helps young peopleget into me music, Yes it does.
(06:01):
So our Recycled Tunes program is kindof the heartbeat of what really drives
our mission M and what you know, what we do all year all year
round, so I know that peoplein the community, you know see GMF
kind of popping up all all yearround. We have different events where we
support local artists and provide music programmingthroughout different events all year round. But
(06:27):
the funding that is raised from thisthis festival, and a lot of it
comes from like our higher ground memberships, A lot of it comes from the
merch through and the merch and ticketsales goes through to directly UM support our
Recycled Tunes program, and our RecycledTunes program provides instruments and funding for music
(06:47):
programs throughout the throughout the county.So for like a lot of the Hillsborough
County schools where they might be lackingfunding to cover some of the needs that
they have for musical instruments. M. So you've got a great outreach program
that we do that's run by aguy named Tad Dunham, and Tad does
a fantastic job of making sure thathe stays connected with all the different schools
(07:10):
and the music programs and the individualsthat are running these programs to make sure
that those needs are met. Allright, what should people know about admission,
parking, transportation, getting into theevent, getting around the event?
Sure, so, as always youknow, downtown Tampa, parking is limited,
so we definitely recommend we're gonna havea massive bike valet that will be
(07:30):
located so anybody who wants to,you know, ride their bike to the
festival will have the they'll have theability to valet their bikes there. And
we also encourage using rideshare Uberlift tohelp keep the parking down because there just
isn't a whole lot of options indowntown and we don't want people to get
frustrated with that, and it's alwayssafer. As well as far as admission,
(07:53):
they tickets will be. The mainentrance will be right on Ashley where
it normally is at that kind ofnear the museum, right there by the
big fountains. As far as goingto the satellite stages, they will be
able to access. There will bean entry an exit and re entry on
the Riverwalk, so that won't befor first time entry. They do need
(08:16):
to go through the main entrance,which will be off of Ashley at the
very front of the festival, butthere will be an entrance located at the
back behind the main stage in CurtisHickson, where there will be a re
entry and exit for anybody who goesto any of the satellite stages down the
Riverwalk. Kelly Boston with the guestBrella Music Festival April twenty ninth and thirtieth
(08:37):
in downtown Tampa. Thank you forjoining us on Beyond the News. Thanks
so much for having us
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. The Guest Brilla Music Festival, founded
in twenty eleven, is back fortwenty twenty three. It's taking place Saturday,
April twenty ninth and Sunday April thirtiethin downtown Tampa at Curtis Sixon Park
and other sites. Kelly Buston ison the board that runs the Guest Brilla
Music Festival, and she joins uson Beyond the News. Kelly, welcome,
(00:23):
Hi, now having me glad tohave you. Now, the physical
layout of the event is going tobe, I understand a little bit different
this year than in previous years.So if you could kind of get into
this and tell us what's going onwith the Kylie Gardens and the Strais Center
and all of that. Yeah,so we there there has been some issues
(00:45):
with the utilizing Kylie Gardens for specialevents. I think the City of Temple
will notice that there are no eventscurrently being scheduled to be held up in
Kylie Gardens, which is obviously heartbreakingfor us in our twelfth year where we've
really found our home on the waterin Curtis Hixon and using Kylie Gardens.
However, you know, we wantedto charge forward with our mission and make
(01:07):
sure that we deliver an incredible musicfestival and experience for the community. So
we are doing what we are callinga hybrid event this year. So we
will still be utilizing Curtis Hickson Parkfor our main stage, also serving as
the main entrance of the festival,and we will have additional satellite stages.
So we have another stage that isgoing to be out behind the Stras Center,
(01:33):
and then two additional satellite stages,one at Sparkman Wharf and another one
at the Sale Pavilion which is locatedbehind the Convention Center. All four stages
are accessible by the Riverwalk or watertaxi. However, the stages at Curtis
Hickson and the Stras will be forticket holders only. So the two satellite
(01:56):
stages that are a little bit morea little bit farther away at the un
Wharf and the Sale Pavilion will befree for anybody who is in the area
that wants to listen to the musicor be involved in that in that area.
But the two stages that are onthe other side of the river Walk,
which are Curtis Hickson and the Strats, will be for ticketed ticketed patrons
(02:23):
and we'll talk about ticketing and missionparking and all that in a moment.
So talk with us about the lineup, what x can we expect this year
and what are some items, someacts that we might might really want to
see in here. Oh my gosh, well all of them. We've got
some really incredible artists lined up.And you know, to cute us to
(02:46):
our staff, our GMF staff thatreally they have just been grinding. We
have thrown this festival together in sixweeks. So anybody that knows about throwing
a big party and booking talent thatis no easy feat to do in a
long period of time, and specificallyto do it in a short period of
time and to come up with theline of it that they have. We
(03:07):
are super super excited. So Saturdaywe have some of the bigger names or
the names that people might be interestedin is We've got a band called Canons,
so they will be playing kind ofmidday later later in the day.
Also big Head Todd and the Monsters, which is another big, big name
(03:29):
that a lot of our guests willdefinitely enjoy. And then direct support term
Aid. Headliner is a super funky, fun band called Chromeo and then headlining
Saturday Night, we have the hiphop icons Run the Jewels, and they
have not been to Tampa, andI think I don't I mean, I
(03:49):
might be wrong, but I thinkthey haven't been here in like ten or
fifteen years. So it's a it'sa really big thing for Tampa to have
these these icons coming. And thenSunday, which I always loved Sunday because
it seems like a little bit moreof a relaxed feel. We will have
some of the bands we have RisingAppalachia, another one of my favorites,
(04:10):
local natives who will be direct supportto what's known as Jay Rad, Joe
Russo's Almost Dead, and those that'sgoing to be our headliner for Sunday night.
And then we have tons and tonsof local talent. It would take
this whole pod, this whole timethat I have allotted to myself to name
everybody, but we're going to havetons of local talent that's going to be
spread out throughout the city through overthe entire weekend, which is really awesome
(04:33):
for us. This year, we'rereally excited about the opportunity to have these
satellite stages because I believe or webelieve that we will be able to impact
a lot of people that might notknow about Gasper and Music Festival and that
will they'll say, wow, thisis going on. There's music happening all
over the city. So it's it'sreally kind of a neat thing for us
to be able to do it thisway. And now, of course,
(04:55):
your festival is also known for itsamenities, for its food and some of
the other aspects of the events,so tell us about that and what people
can expect. So we always havea great lineup of food vendors, all
local vendors always that we utilize atGMF. UM. We we've got I
(05:17):
mean, I'm just trying to thinkoff the top of my head some of
the vendors that we have this year. I was looking for the list and
I don't really have it in frontof me, but the Cali Casina,
We've got, Big Race, FishCamp, Big Red Barbecue Cafe, Hey
China, Chillbros. Our headline,our title sponsor, which is Copper Tailed
(05:39):
Brewing, Donation, Leavage ConA Ice, Lollies, Mexican Crabies. I mean,
they're all Nebraska, Minny Martise,are all local restaurants. So we
only utilize local restaurants and vendors forour festival. And of course all this
supports a nonprofit that helps young peopleget into me music, Yes it does.
(06:01):
So our Recycled Tunes program is kindof the heartbeat of what really drives
our mission M and what you know, what we do all year all year
round, so I know that peoplein the community, you know see GMF
kind of popping up all all yearround. We have different events where we
support local artists and provide music programmingthroughout different events all year round. But
(06:27):
the funding that is raised from thisthis festival, and a lot of it
comes from like our higher ground memberships, A lot of it comes from the
merch through and the merch and ticketsales goes through to directly UM support our
Recycled Tunes program, and our RecycledTunes program provides instruments and funding for music
(06:47):
programs throughout the throughout the county.So for like a lot of the Hillsborough
County schools where they might be lackingfunding to cover some of the needs that
they have for musical instruments. M. So you've got a great outreach program
that we do that's run by aguy named Tad Dunham, and Tad does
a fantastic job of making sure thathe stays connected with all the different schools
(07:10):
and the music programs and the individualsthat are running these programs to make sure
that those needs are met. Allright, what should people know about admission,
parking, transportation, getting into theevent, getting around the event?
Sure, so, as always youknow, downtown Tampa, parking is limited,
so we definitely recommend we're gonna havea massive bike valet that will be
(07:30):
located so anybody who wants to,you know, ride their bike to the
festival will have the they'll have theability to valet their bikes there. And
we also encourage using rideshare Uberlift tohelp keep the parking down because there just
isn't a whole lot of options indowntown and we don't want people to get
frustrated with that, and it's alwayssafer. As well as far as admission,
(07:53):
they tickets will be. The mainentrance will be right on Ashley where
it normally is at that kind ofnear the museum, right there by the
big fountains. As far as goingto the satellite stages, they will be
able to access. There will bean entry an exit and re entry on
the Riverwalk, so that won't befor first time entry. They do need
(08:16):
to go through the main entrance,which will be off of Ashley at the
very front of the festival, butthere will be an entrance located at the
back behind the main stage in CurtisHickson, where there will be a re
entry and exit for anybody who goesto any of the satellite stages down the
Riverwalk. Kelly Boston with the guestBrella Music Festival April twenty ninth and thirtieth
(08:37):
in downtown Tampa. Thank you forjoining us on Beyond the News. Thanks
so much for having us
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