Big Guava Music Festival

Such an amazing wknd of music, food & fun. Love that Tampa finally took advantage of a great venue, gorgeous weather & local businesses in the community to feature a truly unique experience.

More food trucks and vendors than usual and the set up was decent for the amphitheater. They even had a water bottle refill station this time. As always, music was great!

Of all the festivals I have been to this was the best run of all. Excellent venue with superb sound from all four stages with a large but very good natured crowd in attendance. We also loved the varied roster of artists. We were able to cross seeing The Pixies of our bucket list, marvel at the songwriting of Ryan Adams, the voice of Jenny Lewis and find some new favorite acts such as Paper Route and Robert DeLeon at the same time. We will be back next year for sure. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that this was also the best bang for the buck around as far as ticket prices were concerned.

4 stages, any kind of alcoholic libation and street cuisine you can think of. Indoor theater and amphitheater were comfortable and had great acoustics. Also, didn't get to the Ferris wheel or other carnie rides but glad they were an option. Do go, go often, dress light!

Just wanted to see The Strokes, who killed, but ended up going early, found a great spot under a pavillion next to the bar. Couldn't of been better. All of the bands were great, Lydia and A Silent Film new favorites.

This was an absolutely amazing festival! Bands were amazing. Hoping to attend again next year!!!!!

Ridiculous Bands!!! X Ambassadors, Awolnation, Cold War Kids, The Strokes, A Silent Film were all fabulous!!! Great food choices!!! Really nice cops and security!!! It was my second year at Big Guava, I went with a bunch of friends and it was completely fabulous! Pit tickets are a must and I love the early bird option! My only major negative would be the indoor stage. I wanted to see Passion Pit but when I got inside to the Nectar Stage I turned around and went right back out. I was so glad there was no one else I wanted to see in there. Oh and paying $16 for a beer on Friday that was then dropped to $12.50 the next day, to compete with the other vendors, was a bit poor. I'm thinking there's plenty of drinking and overcharging for the beers is not the way to go.

had a blast!!! lots of great Music!!! saw some favorites and some new to me bands!!!! lots of food options our favorite was the Jacksonville little Yellow school bus Grilled Cheese More healthy food choices would have been nice, there wasn't a single place we could get a piece of fruit!! it was hot as heck but there were several areas of shade to sit and relax at. Drinks were WAY overpriced, especially the MALIBU Rum Beach House, got a pina coloda w/ an extra shot that cost 26 bucks and didn't even get a buzz!!! had a good variety of rides with very short wait times. Fairgrounds staff info booths were a waste of time, the employees were miserable and uninformed, of no use at all!!! Was very annoyed and disappointed that While Hozier was performing, about 15 into his performance you could hear another band from another stage over him, they were competing for sound. very disrespectful for Hozier!! County Officers were very present!! exiting was frustrating because they sent you 2 miles out of your way to make a u turn to come all the way back around. Overall had a BLAST and looking forward to next year!!!

I attended the festival on Friday. Every band I saw put on a high energy show with all of the songs I was hoping to hear. If I were only basing my review on the music, Big Guava would get an A+++. Unfortunately, there were other aspects of the festival that took away from the overall experience. First, none of the food trucks were allowed to sell water. The venue apparently had a monopoly on water at $4.00 / bottle. That is highway robbery. On the flip side, water stations were made available (much appreciated) but the water tasted awful. The beer prices were absolutely absurd. $12.00 - 16.00 for a crafty brew? $9.00 for a can? I understand that people need to make some money but those prices are shameful. The food trucks were also a big disappointment. I waited 30 minutes on a grilled cheese sandwich that was never prepared - the vendor did reimburse me but I had already missed part of a show that I wanted to see. My friends went to other trucks and the food was mediocre at best. There are a lot of good food trucks out there - please bring them to Big Guava next year. I would like to end this on a positive note, though. Like I said, the music was amazing. The crowd was upbeat and friendly. It was easy to navigate around the venue. Bathrooms were well-stocked and relatively clean (for an event like this). I would certainly attend this festival again.

Festival was amazing. I saw 20 shows in 2 days. Loved them all but a few (but others I was with loved the few I didn't). The lineup was totally alt-rock, every band I've been listening to on Alt-Nation. Each band exceeded expectations. Found good food (I'm a veggie) and drinks (didn't drink any alcohol) that was reasonably priced. No getting around it: it was hot and there was little or no escape from the heat. But plenty of sun block and a hat took care of my issues. Crowd was friendly, not too crazy. (Slam dancing at only one show and crowd surfing at the same one.) Police/security were generally reasonable: got told to stop videoing once (everybody was doing it) and saw someone smoking a joint in a covered area get told to put it out (no smoking of anything allowed) with no hassle. Did I mention the music was over the top spectacular. I will return. Highly recommend.

Wow what an organized event! Great energy great music great food... Best festival I've been to in a long time!!

No one working Big Guava, except for the very few people working VIP, had any idea of where anything was, what the rules where or how to control crowds. I never got my parking pass in the mail, so I didn't get all of what I paid for with the Super Guava tix. The rent a cops were out in full aggression at the main stage, and it was just poorly run. I won't be back without an amazing lineup, and even then, I will think twice about it.

I have been to quite a few festivals small and large. The line up was exciting, and I thought the venue would be ok. The location was definitely not great. The location is not near any nightlife except the Hardrock Casino which isn't really a festival goers first choice. There was minimal RV camping and no primitive camping. There were hotels near the venue, but once the show was over, that was about all there was to do without driving or cabbing it. Inside the venue wasn't great either. There was no shade anywhere except inside the expo hall. The amphitheater would have been fine, except security refused to let people onto the lawn the first few days. They finally gave up the last day. The food trucks were nice, but there really wasn't anywhere to eat. The shows were good, but not worth the festival experience.

Sunday was the last day of the Big Guava music festival, and it was not one to forget. The lineup was incredible, with small bands like MS MR, Magic Man, St. Lucia, and Walk the Moon killing it on the small stages, and bigger acts like Grouplove and Foster The People tearing it up on the main stage. The event was run very nicely, with great food and drink options for all ages. The security guards that I talked to were very nice and somewhat interested in the music (which was a first!) Overall, I would definitely recommend this event to music lovers everywhere when Big Guava comes again next year.

Great lineup, great venue, covered stages, lots of food trucks & clean restrooms!!

I was about 70 rows back and Outkast was still awesome! Was able to check seeing them off the bucket list. Thanks Big Guava! Hootie Hoo!!

Loved every minute. Twenty One Pilots, Magic Man, Vampire Weekend, Hoodie- so, so many unforgettable bands! Can't wait for next year!!!!!!!!

Please make this an annual concert fest in Tampa! Great line up and well organized!!

Overall, Big Guava was a great time. The Tampa fairgrounds were a great setting for this event with multiple stages, including the headliners playing in the ampitheater. The grounds were easy to navigate and it was awesome that there were tons of public restrooms and no port-a-potties. It did rain on Fri and Sat, but obviously that is no fault of Live Nation. With one inside stage and the covering over te seats in the Ampitheater, it actually didn't even put that much of a damper on things. It was awesome that there were several carinval rides and these were included in the price of the ticket. There were also a great deal of interesting foods trucks, providing all kinds of a variety of food. The craft beer tent was a nice touch but drinks were very pricey. My biggest complaint, however, is that there was no "in and out privleges". For a 3 day festival, I feel this is a much needed perk for attending all 3 days.

The Big Guava Music Festival was an amazing music festival. We attended the festival on Sunday and were treated to one great band after another. The Tampa Bay ares is often ignored by indie bands so the opportunity to see so many in one place was really a treat. Besides the great line-up, the festival was easy to navigate, volunteers were helpful, and there was an excellent variety of food. I have always been a bit leery about going to music festivals, envisioning water shortages, overcrowding, trash everywhere, etc. However, this festival raised the bar. The bathrooms were clean and well-stocked, water stations provided much needed refreshment (for free!), volunteers kept the venues clean, and the crowd didn't trash the place. As a matter of fact, the people attending this festival were really awesome! I know it sounds almost too good to be true but this experience far exceeded by expectations. Please host another Big Guava next year!!

Great use of space of Florida fairgrounds to accommodate 4 stages for the wide variety of bands for 3-day music festival. Enjoyed the different genres of music invited, including the mix of young up-and-comers and more seasoned acts/musicians. The addition of various food trucks was also a great use of space and provided attendees with choices on food. Could have used more drink vendors (beer, liquor, wine, water, soda, tea, lemonade) and perhaps more port-a-lets throughout.

Very well organized event. Great to have a big festival in Florida!

The fairgrounds were a great venue, lots of options to eat with the food truck and then typical fair food. The restrooms were well maintained and clean, the bands gave great fan access for autographs at various times. My only complaint was the lack of re-entry. The weather changed drastically each day and it would have been so wonderful to grab a sweatshirt or rain gear from the cars-- or even leave and come back for different acts.

Big Guava Festival had great band but the ticket prices were a little steep.

Great concert and wonderful idea. Would attend something like this again

Great food, beer, tunes, and rides. It was the perfect combo. Hopefully this will grow and become a yearly event.

Great event and great venue. I hope they do this again next year. Spent all day Friday enjoying the performers. Very much enjoyed Sleigh Bells and of course Outkast ROCKED!

Facility was ok, had the weather cooperated you guys wouldve had a knockout on your hands. Free rides was an excellent plus.

This was my first time at this venue so it was cool that you can go on rides throughout the festival. The music was great and so were the food trucks!! My only complaint was the lack of clear signage on how to get into the festival. Google maps takes you to the back entrance & you have drive almost a quarter miles before someone tells you to turn around. But once you're in, it was a great time

Thanks for a Great show despite the weather. Grest venue, great time. I'll be back next year and thanks!

Loved the Sleigh Bells, OutKast and Cake shows I saw. Really liked how most venues were covered. Did not like so much the distance between stages...seemed like you always had a long walk through nothing to get from one place to another, often in a rush.