The BASH Music Festival

The BASH features national, regional, and local artists and showcases hometown heritage through art and dance, music tributes, food, libations, and family fun. Artists range from rock 'n' roll, Americana, blues, soul, country and more.

The BASH is FREE to attend. To keep the festival free for the general public, we rely on sponsors, donations and community support. If you'd like to help, upgrade your experience to a VIP Package and receive great benefits like prime views on front of the Main Stage, merch, intimate performances and more. This is also a way for The BASH to make a bigger impact in Gainesville by providing support to local charities.

OUR STORY

On October 2, 2017, American Rock and Roll icon, Tom Petty, tragically passed away, leaving millions of fans all over the world shocked and saddened. Despite Tom Petty’s global status as an international superstar, he was a down to earth dude from Gainesville, FL. Just three weeks after his death, over what would have been his 67th birthday, Gainesville native, musician, and frontman of Hometown Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band, Heavy Petty, Jason Hedges, organized the first Tom Petty Birthday Bash on October 20th. Fans near and far gathered for the free, six-hour show of all Petty tunes. Produced completely grassroots, Jason grabbed nine local musicians and bands, artists and food trucks and Heavy Petty closed the evening out with over 2,500 dancing fans. It was a beautiful night where love filled the air and music helped to heal the soul.

With a limited amount of time and resources, what began amidst a frenetic burst of passion and grief for the recently deceased Petty developed into a full-on, free, music festival by 2018.

2018 - Over 8,000 fans from 47 states and six countries attended.
2019 - Over 10,000 fans celebrated the eternal music of Tom Petty.
2020 - Virtual music festival in support with Red Light Management and Tom Petty Estate. Presented by Amazon Music and Sirius XM with over 424K Livestream views.
2021 - In-person festival was canceled
2022- We evolved into The BASH, which stands for Blues, Americana and Soul Heritage.

Our intent was to showcase the best of Gainesville and to be a platform for up and coming rock ’n’ roll bands. Our festival will always have a nod to Tom Petty but we plan to continue to move forward into the next phase of the festival’s evolution.

The BASH is a Damn The Torpedoes LLC Production