Team Robespierre: One of several bands on the expanded F Yeah Fest.

Sean Carlson is looking for vegetable oil. Not the pure stuff sold in the grocery, but the greasy kind restaurants throw out. "We got 55 gallons last night," Carlson says via phone from Washington, DC.

The 22 year old is searching for oil to fuel the 44-passenger Blue Bird bus he and 25 people are driving across the country in support of the annual F Yeah Fest. After four years of having the festival in Los Angeles, Carlson decided to take it national this year, with more than a dozen bands, three comedians and an art collection. As Carlson says, it could be his worst idea yet - or his best.

Five years ago when the F Yeah Fest wasn't even an idea, Carlson spent his time doing what he's doing now: driving across the country with friends. He was 18, had just gotten his driver's license, and he didn't have a plan. His only goal was to have fun.

"We just wanted an adventure, and when you're 18, your responsibilities consist of waking up, and making sure you go to sleep that night and staying alive," Carlson says. "Really, there's nothing more."

Along the way, they stopped in Gainesville, Florida and went to the Fest, a three-day music festival. He loved it. The Fest took place at a number of clubs, with bands playing in all of them. You could walk in and out for free, and each show had great energy. When he got back to LA, he knew he wanted to do something like the Fest, but with comedy, art and different genres of music. In March 2004, he started planning for the first F Yeah Tour.

The festival wasn't always called F Yeah Fest. The name was censored this year because it was getting bigger, and it's easier to get people to work with you when you don't have "fuck" in the title. Still, Carlson will always refer to it as the Fuck Yeah Fest.

"It's fun saying the words "fuck yeah.' It rolls off your tongue. F yeah's not as fun," he says.

Getting bands for the festival wasn't difficult for Carlson who started working for a record label when he was 15. He called bands in LA and the surrounding areas and managed to convince some to play for free. The show was also free the first year. Putting together a music festival is ambitious for anyone, especially an 18 year old with no experience in concert promotion. Needless to say, the first F Yeah Fest - held in various venues in Echo Park - had a few slip-ups.

"It was a huge mess," Carlson says, not sounding surprised that his first festival was less than perfect. "I guess when you're a retarded punk kid, you don't know any better."

There were 26 bands, 12 comedians and 50 artists, but by the end of the two days, every venue was shut down. Carlson said it came down to poor planning, and after the first year, he was over the festival and ready to move on. However, there were a lot of people who weren't ready.

"Eight months after the first one, I started to get a lot of pressure from people to put one on because people were so excited about the first one. They loved it. They wanted it again. And so it just picked up from there," Carlson says.

As the festival grew in demand, so did the line-up. The second year there was 30 bands, 15 comedians and 25 artists. Before the third F Yeah Fest, Carlson enlisted the help of Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks and Black Flag. Morris and Carlson have been friends for seven years, and Carlson was starting to lose inspiration for the festival.

Even with Morris' help, the third year was still too much for Carlson. With 88 bands over three days, he says it was the worst year ever, but also a lot of fun. For the fourth year, he went back to 25 bands, and both days sold out. The goal for the festival was to eventually take it national, and last October, planning for this year's festival started.

"People started finally listening to my bad ideas, and they were like, "You're doing really good. Tell us more about your bad ideas,'" Carlson says. "I have this really awesome one. Let's get an old bus, this church bus, convert it to veggie oil, and then let's put 26 people on it, four bands and drive across the country. And we got a couple comedians on here and we got an art collection."

Although the lineup is a lot smaller this year, it's impressive, including Team Robespierre, Crystal Antlers, Totally Michael and Monotonix, comedians Nick Flanagan, Josh Fadem and Hannibal Buress, and art by Space 1026 from Philadelphia. About four bands and one comedian play at each of the 28 shows.

Line-up numbers aside, this is the biggest year for the festival because it's getting more attention, and people outside of LA are discovering the F Yeah Fest. Still, the festival isn't where Carlson wants it to be. He wants it to be better organized and a more eclectic mix of music.

"I get hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of e-mails from bands and kids telling me how excited they are about it, and it's become something I'm inspired to do because I want to show these kids new bands, and I want to create something that I would like to attend," Carlson says. "That's my whole point. I want this show to be something that if I looked at it, I would be like, "Whoa, that's awesome. This looks like fun.'"

F Yeah Fest: 9 p.m. Saturday, July 5 at Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216.321.5588. Tickets: $8.