Once again Fest approaches us and as you well know there are members of Punktastic that wait all year in anticipation of that weekend in Gainesville in Florida where they take the pilgrimage to Punk Rock Mecca. To kick off some of our Pre-Fest coverage and to get you in the mood (and buying a ticket!) we've got Maryam Hassan, Conor Mackie and Jeff Takcas talking about why they love to Fest as punters, bands and press. First up is Maryam, who thinks the weekend is all about those friends you make...

Fest10 was my first Fest. I’d bought a ticket as a spur of the moment thing, found some friends who’d not yet booked a hotel and haphazardly patched together a ride from Orlando to Gainesville. I was terrified of going because I had no idea what to expect. English festivals are all generally the same (field, tent, multiple stages in a field, if you were a bit of an asshole and were working like me also access to a guest/press bar/area) and that summer I’d done them all. You have one field or one location (Slam Dunk is at a University) with multiple stages, the comfort of knowing you can go home if you really wanted to and you always knew people there. Fest was a whole new ball game for me and it was daunting. Multiple venues in a whole city, mostly people I did not know and no way of hiding anywhere if I didn’t like it. I spent months leading up to my flight there asking people in the UK who had been, what it was like, what the venues were like, if I would die taking photos? When I got there, after getting my pass and walking around the flea market, I was stood by the pool at the Holiday Inn with a PBR in a “FUCK YEAH FEST10” koozie talking to some dude I’d never met about O Pioneers and every single fear I’d had melted away. Hell every single worry I’d had about life all year melted away. Fest is the BEST.

Passes for Fest14 are currently on sale, and I know what I’ll see on my social media for the next few months or so. It’ll be a mix between people stoked for Fest and people complaining that it’s the worst thing ever and punk is awful. There is an annoying trait you pick up once you go to Fest where you come back and talk about it like it’s a magical, life changing place. That same magical feeling I assume 6 year olds have when they enter Disneyland is what punks have when we’re at Fest, it’s hedonistic, total escapism and it’s brilliant. You are submerged in the best (and you ignore the worst) parts of your subculture. But if you’ve not been to Fest I can see why you think we over-exaggerate.

I remember Fest11, being sat on the balcony of the bar next to The Venue drinking some sort of cocktail with a friend of mine, watching people walk by to get to other venues to see bands. I said to her, “Is it weird that this sort of feels like home? I’m perfectly comfortable with myself every time we’re in this city on this weekend”. It is weird. There are many aspects about the punks scene I dislike, but at Fest I seem to avoid those aspects for a weekend. I mean I have had a a run in with a girl who told me I wasn’t punk enough to be at Fest after I apologised to her for bumping into her as I tried to get to some bathrooms, but that is the minority. The magic of it all stems from the fact you are with thousands of people who love what you love. For example, there was a fire alarm in the Holiday Inn that year at about 3am on the Friday morning. My room was on the second floor but I was wandering around on the 6th having just made friends with a group of people with a massive bottle of whiskey. My first thought was, “Shit I better go outside” but the group I was with had sat down to wait it out. Probably not the safest decision but most people on that floor left their rooms with beer and came to join us sat on the floor waiting for whoever set off the alarm by smoking to sort it out. Someone got a guitar, someone started singing, more people had drinks and sat down and it was pretty fun.

I spend most of the weekend running around on my own, because I’m always taking photos and that means I have to be in 5 venues at once quite a lot of the time. It seems kind of daunting to be doing that but it’s how I make friends. You are stood on your own, you talk to the person next to you about the band you’re about to watch, about what stupid thing they did last night, about where to get food later, you get a beer with that person, that person is now your friend. You see them constantly throughout the weekend, you become Facebook friends and sometimes you go watch their band if they end up being in one. Bam. Done. I have so many friends I only really see at Fest because they are scattered across America (and a few of them in Australia), but when I see them in Gainesville it’s like we’ve never been apart. This has a lot to do with social media, I mean via Facebook we seem to know so much about everyone, but I know a lot of communities form around Fest online. How many of my American friends have met English friends via me? How many people from L.A have I met through my friends Jimmy and Josh? How about when I made friends with Phil because he liked Keeping Up Appearances? Or Matt from Canada because our toilet flooded ankle deep and I had to use his one next door? How many people did we talk too after we sold them BSM merch and then saw them wearing it for the weekend? Fest is for buddies, making them, seeing them, getting drunk with them, having adventures with them.

When I remember to eat, and I don’t usually, Fest is so good for food. I suck at exploring the food options of Gainesville. Once I’m in photo mode there are three things that matter, beers and bands (and boys – sorry). Gainesville has you covered for a lot of options though. We had Reggae Shack last time I was there, and my manager at the time back home who was Jamaican was super jealous when I sent her a picture of my food. I’ve eaten more 5 Star pizza than I know what to do with and it’s always way better than I imagine it will be. Once I bought a taco from a dude on a bike, which probably wasn’t a good idea but hey! Live on the wild side. The chocolate chip pancakes in that bagel and noodle place next to the Holiday Inn are DIVINE. Never go to Munchies 420 unless you want to die from heart failure, if you do go don’t go when they are only using the deep fryer.… my stomach didn’t like me the next day for that one. Always go to Flacos. Go eat some alligator at Boca Fiesta. You could eat Taco Bell all weekend if you wanted (and I have done that), everything is there. Stuff your face (if you remember to stuff your face).

Then there’s the music. As someone who travels 4321 miles to go to Fest I want to see bands I can’t see back in the UK. I think pre-fest planning is one of the rare occasions in life where I am ridiculously organised, because I go through the line up and just listen to everything I don’t already know. There’s always schedule highlighting sessions and trying to figure out if I can manage to run from one venue to another to catch two bands playing at the same time. I very rarely go to see bigger bands, just because I can watch them at home. Fest, to me, is a way of discovering new music and watching bands play some of the best sets ever. There’s very rarely a set you see that doesn’t have an amazing atmosphere, the crowd is always stoked, there’s always mayhem and that’s what I love to see. It’s also always nice to go see the English bands get all that American love during their sets. There is something awesome about watching bands from your home country make all these new fans, play amazing sets and just have the best time. There’s no hierarchy at Fest like at the bigger UK festivals. Band? Punter? Press? You all have the same access to everything which I think is what makes it so good. There’s no sidestage wankers really, just everyone having an ace time together.

If you’re on the fence about going I am here to say jump over the fence, come on over and join the party. We have a lot of beer or soda to go round, just be wary of the fact that when you’ve been once, you’ll be going back again and again. There’s no hope for the Fest’d.