City of Gainesville - Annual Events
Gainesville Downtown Festival and Art Show (November/December):
The streets of historic downtown Gainesville, from City Hall to the Hippodrome State Theatre will be transformed into a celebration of art and creativity complete with live music, performing arts and a spectacular array of food. More than 100,000 art lovers will fill the streets to enjoy and purchase one-of-a-kind artwork. The festival features 240 local and national artists displaying original oils and acrylics, vibrant watercolors, unique sculptures, dazzling jewelry, decorative ceramics and vivid photography. Children can create their own art at the Imagination Station, a free hands-on art activity area including sidewalk-chalk drawing, painting, mask design, puppet creation, clay sculpting and interactive entertainment. For music lovers enjoy continuous, live entertainment on four stages by local bands, solo musicians and dance companies.
Morningside Nature Center Cane Boil and Fiddlefest (November):
This event is held each year the Saturday after Thanksgiving and combines traditions of giving thanks and fall harvest with live fiddle, banjo and string-band music, which were major influences on American entertainment for more than 150 years. Bring your holiday guests, friends and family out to Morningside’s beautiful Living History Farm to experience the making and bottling of sugar cane syrup, biscuits hot from the wood cookstove, live roots music, horse-drawn wagon rides and living history interpreters and demonstrators bringing a country day in 1870 to life. The Longleaf Pine Youth Fiddle Contest portion of the Cane Boil is for musicians 18-years-old and younger.
Great Invader Raider Rally (January):
Be a part of the Great Invader Raider Rally and remove invasive plant species from our natural areas! Individuals and groups are needed to volunteer! After volunteers are done ridding our natural areas of Exotic Space Invaders, they can join the Victory Celebration at Morningside Nature Center!
Hoggetowne Medieval Faire (January/February):
Travel back in time and into a world of battling knights, dancing gypsies, and mystifying magicians on nine stages of entertainment. Be swept away by medieval magic! Wander the medieval marketplace where hundreds of talented artisans sell their medieval wares. In 2024 the festival will just be one weekend at Depot Park.
The streets of historic downtown Gainesville, from City Hall to the Hippodrome State Theatre will be transformed into a celebration of art and creativity complete with live music, performing arts and a spectacular array of food. More than 100,000 art lovers will fill the streets to enjoy and purchase one-of-a-kind artwork. The festival features 240 local and national artists displaying original oils and acrylics, vibrant watercolors, unique sculptures, dazzling jewelry, decorative ceramics and vivid photography. Children can create their own art at the Imagination Station, a free hands-on art activity area including sidewalk-chalk drawing, painting, mask design, puppet creation, clay sculpting and interactive entertainment. For music lovers enjoy continuous, live entertainment on four stages by local bands, solo musicians and dance companies.
Morningside Nature Center Cane Boil and Fiddlefest (November):
This event is held each year the Saturday after Thanksgiving and combines traditions of giving thanks and fall harvest with live fiddle, banjo and string-band music, which were major influences on American entertainment for more than 150 years. Bring your holiday guests, friends and family out to Morningside’s beautiful Living History Farm to experience the making and bottling of sugar cane syrup, biscuits hot from the wood cookstove, live roots music, horse-drawn wagon rides and living history interpreters and demonstrators bringing a country day in 1870 to life. The Longleaf Pine Youth Fiddle Contest portion of the Cane Boil is for musicians 18-years-old and younger.
Great Invader Raider Rally (January):
Be a part of the Great Invader Raider Rally and remove invasive plant species from our natural areas! Individuals and groups are needed to volunteer! After volunteers are done ridding our natural areas of Exotic Space Invaders, they can join the Victory Celebration at Morningside Nature Center!
Hoggetowne Medieval Faire (January/February):
Travel back in time and into a world of battling knights, dancing gypsies, and mystifying magicians on nine stages of entertainment. Be swept away by medieval magic! Wander the medieval marketplace where hundreds of talented artisans sell their medieval wares. In 2024 the festival will just be one weekend at Depot Park.