“They’re calling for something like 2400 people here tonight or something like that," says Matt Brink, a chef at the Lunchbox downtown, "so we’re getting pretty geared up for it, doing a lot of prep work, hopefully it’ll be fruitful.”
The winter months can be hard on outdoor restaurants like the Lunchbox, and Brink adds they're hoping Bo Diddley's New Years Eve activities will " be a good boost to get us through the next couple of weeks that should be kind of slower."
Tonight Bo Diddley Plaza will be teeming with hundreds of people ready to ring in the new year with music. Two Gainesville based bands will be playing on the stage behind me while people dance and mingle. Restaurants like Vellos Downtown Grill say they're trying to capitalize on party-goers drifting away from Bo Diddley Plaza.
“I don’t know if they’re selling food," says one Vellos chef, "hopefully it’ll bring us a lot of business and we’ll make a lot of money tonight.”
As the restaurants prep and the tents go up, Downtown Gainesville comes together for what promises to be a party that makes plenty of music and plenty of money for Gainesville.