JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The second annual One Spark Festival is set to begin in downtown Jacksonville Wednesday morning. The event will bring innovators and investors together, with the intention of providing funding for inventors.
The site started coming to life Monday as crews began construction on everything from huge stages, to merchandise for the giant crowd-funding event.
"Right now we've got so many creators coming in," said Joe Sampson, One Spark executive director. "We have over 630 creator projects and right now is (the) time they're coming into One Spark HQ in library downtown. They've got to check in."
Over the next 36 hours, crews will make the final push to finish all the details of turning Hemming Plaza and 20 blocks of downtown into an exciting venue for the thousands to enjoy.
IMAGES: One Spark open for business
Pratt Guys Outdoor Designs is one of the hundreds of innovators that will be at the festival this year.
"We're getting to the point where we've outgrown ourselves, and in order to make our company grow larger we need a store. In order to (do) that we need help," said Derek Pratt.
Pratt, along with all the innovators at One Spark, will be vying for millions of dollars in prize money to get their inventions off the ground.
One Spark employee Onyx Seven told Channel 4 she can't wait for the event.
"I love One Spark, everything about it," Seven said. "You can't say anything bad about One Spark because it has brought so much life down here, from artwork on buildings to new businesses opening up."
One Spark officially opens Wednesday at 11 a.m. Opening ceremonies begin Wednesday at 6 p.m. Channel 4's One Spark half hour special starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The crew arrives with the main stage to be set up in Hemming Plaza.