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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Investors with a gap in the calendar after the South by Southwest Festival in March and before the Money Show in Las Vegas in May should slot in the One Spark crowdfunding event in Jacksonville in April. Over 600 "creators," entrepreneurs seeking capital, have descended upon the port city in northern Florida from April 9 to 13 to attract funding.

For those wondering if crowdfunding really has potential: Facebook (FB) just paid $2 billion for Oculus, a virtual reality firm. Oculus was crowd funded by Kickstarter for $2.4 million in September 2012, with nearly 10,000 backers.

Crowd funding was authorized by Congress with the JOBS Act two years ago this month. And the One Spark Festival began last year in Jacksonville. An estimated 130,000 people came to check out the "creators" at the festival. The festival now has booths spread out over a 20-square block area in Jacksonville, with attendees pitching for funding.

This must have been what it was like in the early days of Sundance or South by Southwest, with all the excitement but without the super-commercialization or massive scale. There were plenty of dogs walking around with bandanas around their necks, for example.

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At Jacksonille's One Spark Investor Fest, if You Fund It, They Will Crowd