The Fest 24 Announces First Wave With Bouncing Souls and PUP Headlining
The Fest just dropped the first wave for its 24th edition and it's already stacked. The Bouncing Souls and PUP are headlining, 114 bands have been announced so far, and over 200 more are still on the way. Gainesville, FL from October 23rd to 25th. You already know what this is.
If you're not familiar, The Fest has been running since 2002. What started as a two-day, four-stage event with about 60 bands has grown into a three-day takeover across 15+ venues with 350+ artists. It goes down every year around the weekend of the Florida-Georgia game and has become one of the most important independent punk festivals in the country. No corporate nonsense, just bands, venues, and Gainesville doing its thing.
The Bouncing Souls Bring Nearly Four Decades of Punk
The Bouncing Souls headlining The Fest just makes sense. This band has been at it for close to 40 years and their fingerprints are all over modern punk. You can hear their influence in bands like The Gaslight Anthem, My Chemical Romance, The Menzingers, and so many more. They previously played The Fest 22 back in 2024, so their return is a big deal.
The timing here is perfect too. The Bouncing Souls have a new album called Born To Be dropping June 26th, produced by Grammy winner Will Yip (who also produced Turnstile and Title Fight). It follows 2023's Ten Stories High and has already produced singles like "Power," "United," and "The Light." By the time October rolls around, that record will have had months to settle in. Expect those new songs to hit different live.
They're also in the middle of a massive tour cycle celebrating Born To Be alongside anniversaries of Maniacal Laughter, How I Spent My Summer Vacation, and The Gold Record, with The Suicide Machines as support. That Born To Be Tour is running through 2026 and into 2027.
PUP Celebrates 10 Years of The Dream Is Over
I'll be real, PUP headlining with a full performance of The Dream Is Over might be the biggest draw on this lineup for a lot of people. That album dropped on May 27, 2016, which means this set is a proper 10th anniversary celebration. The title alone has one of the best origin stories in punk. Frontman Stefan Babcock was diagnosed with a hemorrhaged vocal cord cyst during a tour with Modern Baseball in late 2015, and his doctor literally told him "the dream is over." He turned that into the album title. And then kept going.
PUP has been on a tear since then. Five albums deep now, with Morbid Stuff in 2019, The Unraveling of PUPTheBand in 2022, and last year's Who Will Look After the Dogs? in 2025. But The Dream Is Over is the one that put them on the map for a lot of fans. Hearing it front to back at The Fest is going to be something special.
The Heavy Hitters in Wave One
Beyond the headliners, the first 114 bands have a lot of substance. If you lean toward heavier stuff, this wave has you covered.
Torche is on the bill, which is a huge get for anyone who likes their riffs heavy and melodic at the same time. A Wilhelm Scream just put out Cheap Heat back in February via Creator-Destructor Records. It's their sixth full-length and their first with new guitarist Ben Murray (who you might know from Light This City and Heartsounds). The record was produced by guitarist Trevor Reilly at their own Anchor End Studio in New Bedford, Massachusetts. These guys are technical punk rock lifers and they came off a huge 2025 that included the European Common Thread Tour alongside Hot Water Music, Spanish Love Songs, and Joyce Manor.
Sparta is another one to watch. The El Paso alt-rock band has their sixth studio album Cut A Silhouette coming May 29th on Equal Vision Records and Dine Alone Records. It was recorded in just seven days at Magpie Cage Recording Studio by J. Robbins. They've already released the single "Crater," which was co-written with My Chemical Romance's Frank Iero. Sparta has a packed 2026 ahead of them with headlining dates, a run supporting Jimmy Eat World in September, and shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco, The Belasco in LA, and Showbox in Seattle this summer.
Also in the first wave: Initiate, Spaced, Flagman, and plenty more. And honestly, 114 bands is just the start. Over 200 more are expected to be announced on June 5th.
What You Need to Know
The Fest 24 goes down October 23rd through 25th, 2026 in Gainesville, FL. It's all ages. The full lineup will eventually hit 350+ bands spread across 15+ venues all over town. The next wave of artist announcements is expected June 5th. For tickets and all the details, head to thefestfl.com.
If you've never been to The Fest, this is the year. Between The Bouncing Souls riding a new album cycle, PUP playing one of the best punk albums of the last decade front to back, and a supporting lineup that's already this deep with 200+ bands still to come, there's really no excuse. Don't sleep on it.
Cover photo courtesy of Ticketmaster