Fest co-organizer Sarah Goodwin: “Fest is the best!”

Interview by Jason Schreurs

Anyone who has ever attended Fest, which has taken place every October in Gainesville, Florida for the past 14 years, already well knows how rad it is. Started by No Idea Records employee Tony Weinbender in 2002, the little punk rock festival that could has grown each year, now featuring over 350 bands in one weekend, as well as two days of Pre-Fest action in Tampa.

But one man cannot a festival run, so when a young punk upstart by the name of Sarah Goodwin approached Weinbender back in 2009 to help out with Fest while she was a freshman at college, little did she know that within a few years she’d be co-organizing the festival.

We recently talked to Goodwin about her ever-growing role with Fest, her tight-knit community of Gainesville and how the city and the festival have changed her life over the years.

I wanted to start by asking you a question that’s probably hard for you to answer, but what is Fest? How do you define it?
Ooooh [laughs]. Oh man, I feel like I’m going to be very cliche. I’ll try not to be. Fest is… a bunch of people in the same place that like the same music. When I think about Fest, I think more about seeing everyone’s faces, and being around that community of people that you don’t get to see more than once or twice a year, or maybe you haven’t seen them in a few years, and they’re all there, and you’re all going to shows together. It’s just this magical place [laughs] that only happens once a year.

How did you first get involved with Fest? Can you take me back to when you were first introduced to it?
Oh, yeah, I’ll take you back. [Laughs] When I went to college about five years ago I thought I wanted to do PR, so I started out in the public relations program, and I was trying to think of things that I could do outside of school, because I didn’t feel like I was learning anything. I always loved Against Me! and I knew about No Idea Records, so I thought I would see what they were doing for PR. So I sent Tony an email as a freshman in college and said, “Hey, I want to help out!” And he was like, “Cool, come to the office and talk to us and we’ll see if it works.” And it did. [Laughs] That’s when Tony was doing more of the PR stuff for No Idea and some other labels. The first big thing we did was the second Harvest of Hope Fest in St. Augustine, so that was the first thing I was witness to. That was a lot of fun; it was very different than Fest, but still great, and a lot of people have fond memories of the Harvest of Hopes. So that was in the Spring of that year and then we started winding up for Fest. And I was just plugging away and helping out with the PR stuff at No Idea. Even just five years ago, Fest was a much smaller operation, so I just started emailing the bands and keeping all of them informed and in line. So I kept at it for the last few years and that’s where I am now.

What’s relationship now between Fest and No Idea Records, because I know you’ve moved away from No Idea to become your own self-sustaining entity?
I’d say it’s a friendship. Tony moved Fest out of the No Idea office, so we’re not physically there much anymore. When Tony decided to work on Fest full time, and not doing as much of the press side of things, I’d say that’s when we became our own thing. Tony spends his whole year doing Fest now, and just Fest, but I’d say the relationship between us and No Idea is a mutual respect. And they help us out whenever we ask.

That must have been a big step, to see that happen, and being able to move away and do your own thing?
Yeah, that happened after Fest 10 and into Fest 11, where Tony started doing it full time. It’s been interesting to see responsibilities shift. Var [Thelin] from No Idea used to help lay out the schedule and do graphics and things, so I pretty much just take the templates they had from previous years and update them. That’s why the schedule always looks the same. [Laughs] But it works, right, so why try to change it?

What has it been like for you to come in a few years ago as a helper, and now you’re such a huge part of Fest? You mentioned responsibility… how does it feel to be one of the main organizers of such a well-established and respected music festival?
It’s kind of dream! And it’s pretty much the perfect situation, and I’m not at the level where I’m working all year on it, so I still get to do other things, but the fact that I get to part of this huge thing that so many people love and respect, it’s so nice! [Laughs] I love the music, I love the bands; I love seeing them when they come through town and it’s not Fest, and they’re always like, “We’ll see you in October! Thanks for everything!” and I’m like, “I just sit on my email all day!” [Laughs] But, seriously, it’s great! I feel pretty biased about Fest, and I guess I haven’t been to that many other festivals, but I always say Fest is the best! It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s also grown so much, with the whole organization side of it.

A lot of people think of Fest as just being Tony’s thing, but you and some other people have really stepped up the past few years and it’s become more of a team effort.
Yeah, it’s fun. Tony isn’t on Facebook and sometimes he just doesn’t get social media. [Laughs] And he always tell us, “Man, you guys do so good!” and I’m like, “Tony, if only you knew how simple these things are now!” But he probably has a MySpace page that could be unearthed from the ether.

Is there a passing of the torch going on with Tony recognizing that there are some younger people coming up that are just as stoked as he is about doing Fest?
Oh, yeah, but he’s always been so encouraging of people to do their own thing, too. Fest is always Tony’s thing, but there are definitely a lot of people that he has inspired. He’s inspired me to do something myself eventually. But Fest is still just Tony’s world, as far as passing the torch goes. I feel like if people want to do things, they should bring it back to their own towns, because all of these bands want to play and have a good time and hang out, so why wouldn’t they do it in another town, too?

What’s your relationship with Gainesville and how did you end up there?
I moved here for school in 2009 and I stayed. Gainesville has a weird way of people either cycling through it really quickly, like the vast majority, or people just don’t ever leave. I feel like I might be one of those don’t-ever-leave people, and I’ve actually gone back to school recently, so I’m back in that student population, which is definitely the main part of the city. If the university wasn’t here, the city would be a very different place.

What do you like about Gainesville?
I like how small it is. I get overwhelmed when I think about bigger cities. Enough stuff goes on in Gainesville that if I want to go out, I can. But I don’t feel obligated to. If I lived in Los Angeles or something, and there were always shows and comedy and stuff, I would feel like I had to go to everything and feel overwhelmed and stressed out, but I like the size of Gainesville. And I like the Florida heat, so I can’t really move anywhere else. [Laughs] Being one of those people that have stayed and not moved after graduating, I’ve met a lot of new people that are in a similar situation. Some of these people are buying houses now, and having kids, and for some of them this is where they are going to raise their kids, and it’s pretty cool. I’m starting to get more mature and realize that this place isn’t so bad; it’s cute, it’s small. And I like our one big university and our one big block of downtown. I can handle that. [Laughs]

What’s the most challenging part about doing Fest?
Oooh, um, this is good because I just did this: I just emailed all of the bands with what days they are playing and I’m always terrified before I do that, because I always think, “What if someone sent an email that said something and I forgot something?” And I always do; there are always a couple of things that pop up. But the hardest thing, for me, is the schedule aspect of Fest. I always get paranoid that someone will say, “I already bought my flights and I can’t play that day!” and it will throw everything off. Especially this year, because Tony booked so many bands so early, which is great because it’s one less thing to worry about down the road, but at the same time when the bands get booked so early, they’re not thinking ahead to October already. They’re not thinking about it in February or March. The schedule gets really tight and changing things gets very difficult, so that’s the hardest part about Fest; just juggling all of the bands and different people that play in multiple bands really stresses me out. [Laughs] It’s like, “Okay, you’re playing here and now you have to run to the next venue to play in your other band in an hour!”

It must be frustrating when bands drop off the lineup as well. I notice that happens a lot.
Oh, yeah. The last two years it seemed to happen a couple of times the weekend of, and I totally get that your band’s van has broken down on your way down to Florida and you can’t play. I get it. Or sometimes people just don’t tell me and they don’t show up, so we’re like, “Well, what do we do now?” So that can be frustrating, but it’s also a lot of fun, because then I can send a mass email to everyone and say, “Who wants to play in two hours,” and then they do it, and it’s the best! That happened with The Hotelier last year when they played at Loosey’s and that was one of my highlights from last year. They’re like, “Yeah, we’ll play another set,” and I was like, “Yes! You’re one of my favourite bands! I’m so happy!”

It seems like there’s an aspect of Fest that just takes care of itself, like when problems come up, everything just sort of works out.
Yeah, I feel like that happens a lot with our volunteers, and they are always so great. The shows always run smoothly and it’s really a testament to the stage managers and the volunteers at each venue. I don’t worry about how the shows are running during Fest, and that’s a really cool feeling. Everything is run so professionally, from the large-scale stuff, right down to the small-scale stuff. I don’t worry about how shows are going at the Atlantic, for instance, and I know it’s going to be tight, and it’s going to be awesome, and there’s going to be a line… There’s always going to be a line at the Atlantic, so you know now! [Laughs]

Why do you think it is that people are so behind Fest and willing to step up and do anything it takes to make it happen?
Everyone gets that feeling that we want to show off our city, and our community, and it’s bands we like, and it’s our friends… Fest is its own special time, and I think everyone feels that and they all want to do whatever they can. I get so many offers from people to help out in any way they can; people who live in Gainesville, and people who don’t live here. It’s just this genuine community of people, and that inspires people to take on responsibility and help run the most fun weekend.

How does it feel to know that people come from all over the world to Fest and converge on Gainesville for the weekend?
It’s great; it’s crazy. I think everyone is insane. Well, not really, but I kind of do. [Laughs] All the people that come from Australia or Japan or Europe, just anywhere, especially outside of the country…. it’s just amazing. I wish I could be in their shoes and see what Gainesville is like during Fest for a foreigner. What if this is your first time out of your country and you’re coming, of all places, to Gainesville for Fest? It’s just inspiring and it really fuels the fire and inspires me and Tony and everyone on the crew, to see all of these people from everywhere around the world. I have a bunch of friends from everywhere now; it’s great.

I like describing Fest as a punk rock utopia. Is that a fitting description?
Yeah, yeah, of course. It’s something that only happens in Gainesville at that time, and it’s definitely not normal. It’s fun. It’s always good vibes!

And you work registration, so you see everyone coming through, and it seems like the overall response is smiles and happiness, and barely any bummer.
Yeah, definitely. Registration is one of my favourite times. It’s also one of the more stressful times, obviously, but it’s my favourite to see everyone cycle through. And it’s the one time I get to see most of the bands that I email all of the time, so it’s like, “Oh, hey! Now I can put a face to your name,” or it might be the one time of the year that I get to see them again, and it’s like, “Oh, nice to see you again. You still have that beard! Cool!” But it’s so great. I feel like that’s the tagline of this interview: “It’s so great!”

Since this is Rice and Bread, what’s your go-to food spot in Gainesville?
I love Karma Cream, and anyone who is my friend and wants to do anything with me, that’s where we’ll usually go. Their fake chicken curry wrap is really, really good if you want food, but I also have a really sweet tooth, so I always get ice cream, usually with sprinkles, or chocolate chips if I feel like mixing it up. But, yeah, I love Karma Cream!

And it’s a vegan place?
Well, their display is half vegan ice cream, which is usually coconut milk based. Then the other half of their ice creams are dairy. Then all of their baked goods and all of their food is vegan, or at least most of it is.

And it’s important to eat during Fest. Correct?
It is important! It’s the most important! I’ve had people bring me food at registration, like a volunteer who I tell to go and get me a burrito or something. Just go get me something to fuel me! Everyone needs to eat!

Fest takes place in Gainesville, Florida on October 30-November 1, 2015. Pre-Fest 3 in Little Ybor, Tampa takes place October 29-30, 2015.