Ron Paul Supporters Organizing Pre-Convention Festival

In the days leading up to the Republican National Convention, Tampa could see a very different political gathering just blocks away.

Ron Paul supporters are organizing Paul Festival, to be held at the Florida State Fairgrounds on Aug. 24-26, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin the next day, Aug. 27, eight miles across town at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Ron Paul currently has no plans to attend, spokesman Gary Howard wrote in an e-mail to ABC News. The festival organizers are not affiliated with Paul's campaign.

On its website, the festival promises music, entertainment, and activism. The Tampa Bay Times reported that organizers are in negotiations with the fairgrounds and have contacted local hotels about reserving blocks of rooms. One organizer estimated the event could draw 20,000 or more people per day.

Tickets are not yet on sale, but the website advertises several "Ronvoys" to transport attendees from as far away as Spokane, Wash., Phoenix, San Francisco, and Dearborn, Mich.

In 2008, Paul held his own kind of counter-convention, a rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis, as the Republican National Convention was underway at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.