uf fraternities and party scene

Little late in the game to decide what school you want to go to?

I would say that fraternity parties/house parties are probably a larger part of the social scene for freshmen and sophomores. With that being said, most socials or house parties either are pre-games or have bar tabs that start at a certain time later in the night--and then most of everyone at the party goes to the bar. People of all ages still go to and hang out at midtown on any given night, but older folks are usually more inclined to skip a house party and just go to a happy hour. Essentially, if you don't have a fake ID or are under 21 in Gainesville, you can still have a good time (if you're Greek expecially) but you may miss out on going to bars that require 21+ for entrance (which comprise the majority of bars at Midtown). So to answer your question, no, I would not say that the Gainesville/UF social scene is necessarily dominated by the bar scene.

Will there be parties this weekend?

There's a thriving house party scene here. GDI's and Greeks throw all the time. If that's your scene, there are definitely some frats who will do a house party near weekly.