JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- After a two-year hiatus, the One Spark Festival is back and it's full of changes.
"That hiatus was a chance for us to evaluate how the event was staged downtown," said Christopher Carter, the President of One Spark Ventures. "There was no secret it was expensive."
He said not only was it expensive, but it also lost its focus. As a result, the new event is being rebranded as a two-day festival.
"We wanted to take a step back and shrink the cost of the event but also refocus on the idea and the innovators," Carter said.
He said in 2018, the festival will be at Daily's Place.
Carter said during the daytime, the focus will be on the creators, but during the nighttime, the focus will be on having fun.
"At night time, it converts to One Spark [and] after dark, there will be DJs and bands playing at nighttime," he said.
In the past, the festival was open and free, but Carter said this year's event has a fee of $12.50 for the public to attend, $5 for students, and it's free for children under 10 years old.
"We understand charging a fee to get in, we will probably lose some people," he said. "If we can draw 50,000 people, it is a success."
Why Daily's Place? Carter said it is the perfect place for the new One Spark Festival because it offers security, has a technology network of Wi-Fi and there is the amphitheater.
The event will also include five Spark Tank Zones.
"The winners of the spark tank competition in the five zones will each win $5,000," Carter said.
The winners will then compete for a much larger prize of $20,000. He said this festival will be a different experience for festival goers, and there will be an opportunity for community involvement.
"We want the community to know they have a really big role," Carter said. "Voting is back this year. You have to be here to vote, but that voting will determine the top creator of the year. It is the people's choice award of the festival."
The One Spark Festival is set for April 6 and 7, but there's a March 4 deadline for creators.
Anyone interested can click here.
To fill out the application is free. If the applicant is selected to participate in the festival, the fee is $125.
