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No, Gainesville's Downtown Art Festival Isn't Really In October

The banner located on West University Ave for the Downtown Festival and Art Show lists the incorrect date. The Festival is this weekend Nov.16-17.
The banner located on West University Ave for the Downtown Festival and Art Show lists the incorrect date. The Festival is this weekend Nov.16-17.

Gainesville residents driving on West University Avenue may be thrown off by a misleading piece of information regarding the 32nd annual Fall Downtown Festival and Art Show.

A street banner hanging between the Pi Kappa Alpha House and Ben Hill Griffin Stadium proclaims the festival for Oct. 16 and 17, a month behind the actual date: this Saturday and Sunday.

The banner has been up on West University Avenue since Tuesday and had already received notices from residents about the typo, said Linda Piper, the event coordinator, who added that Gainesville's Creative Workshop was partly responsible for the error.

"When they (Gainesville's Creative Workshop) re-lettered the banner, they changed the days to the 16th and the 17th, but forgot to change the month from October to November," Piper said.

Piper, who's been producing the event for the last 20 years, said she also "learned a lesson to check the banner to make sure they're lettered correctly before they're hung."

Despite the incorrect date on the banner, the festival kicks off Friday with the Downtown Blues Concert and will span from the Hippodrome Theatre to city hall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Zak is a reporter for WUFT News who may be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org