Ron Paul Supporters Planning Festival
Three-day event would take place immediately before convention.
By RICHARD DANIELSON
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 10:14 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 10:14 p.m.
TAMPA | Supporters of presidential candidate Ron Paul are negotiating to hold a three-day festival of music, entertainment and activism at the Florida State Fairgrounds immediately before the Republican National Convention.
Paul Festival 2012 would run from Aug. 24-26, ending the day before the convention begins.
Details like ticket prices and who would be on stage have not been announced, but the festival could draw 20,000 or more people per day, estimated Deborah Robinet, an organizer who lives near San Diego.
"Ron Paul supporters are very enthusiastic, and there's going to be a bunch of them in Tampa," said Robinet, one of five directors of the nonprofit group Liberty Unleashed, which was incorporated this month in Florida to make arrangements for the festival.
Robinet and fair director of sales and marketing Terri Parnell said they expected a contract to be finished soon. Because the state fair property is one of the 73 official venues for the convention, Parnell said fair officials also have been in touch with the GOP's Committee on Arrangements, which is in charge of convention planning.
Robinet said she expects the variety to reflect a saying of the movement: "Diversity finds unity in the message of freedom."
"That's one of the things about Ron Paul," said Robinet, who helped organize a July 2008 march for Paul that attracted 15,000 in Washington, D.C.
The fair's 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre already has two concerts not related to the convention booked that weekend, but that is not expected to be a problem. The fairgrounds have room for the festival and concerts.
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I'll be there!