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Gasparilla Music Festival: Is downtown Tampa ready for a music fest?

 
Published Jan. 27, 2012

Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa is a fantastic setting for live music -- just see the monthly Rock the Park concert, which returns next Thursday -- but it's still somewhat underutilized.

That could change in March, when a coalition of like-minded music fans aim to launch the Gasparilla Music Festival.

The festival is set for March 10 at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and the adjacent Kiley Gardens in downtown Tampa. Founders intentionally chose a date between the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts March 3-4 and the Gasparilla International Film Festival March 29-April 1."We're trying to create March as the month of the arts in Tampa,'' said David Cox, board president of the festival. Organizers promise an eclectic mix of music, from roots rocks to New Orleans brass funk. An initial lineup announcement could come as soon as Feb. 7.

For more on the festival, click here for Susan Thurston's story.

Photo: Edward Linsmier, tbt*