GONZALES COUNTY, Texas — After it was denied its permit to return back to its location near San Marcos, the annual floating, camping and music festival known as Float Fest has announced a new location for its 2019 festival.
The festival will be floating about 50 miles southeast to Gonzales, Texas. This new spot will put it about an hour outside of Austin, an hour outside of San Antonio, and about two hours from Houston.
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"Float Fest is happening and we are excited about that. We have been working on another location for months," said Marcus Federman, founder of Float Fest. "We have been thinking about moving the festival for some time now to allow for an expansion and more attendees, and a great opportunity presented itself with Gonzales. Gonzales is known as the birthplace of Texas independence and we can't think of a better place to celebrate a festival rich in Texas traditions such as live music, floating the river and camping.”
At its new location, festival leaders said the festival will still include all of its regular amenities like river floating, camping and music. Plus, the new property will be about three times larger than its past festival. And with the river being on site here, there is no need for shuttles from the festival grounds to the river.
The new campgrounds will be located on a pecan orchard with numerous trees that are 200+ years old, providing plenty of shade along the Guadalupe River. There will also be improved traffic flow with multiple exit points. And the city center of Gonzales will only be a few miles away, providing access to hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and more.
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The new location is located on a private Ranch in Gonzales County. The address and details will be announced once ticket sales are launched. This year's lineup and tickets will be made available on Thursday, April 25. Check here for updates.
Past artists who have performed at the two-day festival include Tame Impala, Snoop Dogg, MGMT, Passion Pit, Grouplove, Mac Miller, Lil Wayne, Weezer, Cage the Elephant and many more.
Since beginning in 2014 with around 5,000 people at Cool River Ranch, the festival has quadrupled in size with around 20,000 people attending in 2018. This year, the festival attempted to earn a permit for 25,000 people but it was denied.
A Guadalupe District Judge in April denied the permit after the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court voted against the permit in January.
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A lawyer for the event's promoter, Current Events LLC, said officials were concerned with safety. The road leaving Cool River Ranch is a small, two-lane county road. Once the festival ends, event goers have had to sit in their cars for over an hour to leave the festival grounds.
Other concerns against the festival have been vocalized regarding river pollution and trash. Last year, Float Fest announced plans to partner with local groups and added new measures to its "Keep the River Clean" project.
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