Thanks to this weekend’s estimated 50,000 attendees, Virgin Mobile FreeFest officially raised a cumulative total of one million dollars to benefit charities for homeless youth.
The multi-genre music festival took place at Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion this past Saturday, Sept. 21.
In addition to Samsung’s sponsorship, FreeFest proudly partnered with Sevenly, Vita Coco and Uber to make the altruistic event possible.
The forty-acre, outdoor venue opened its gates to the thousands of visitors at 11 a.m. and entertained for the following 12 hours. Indeed, music lovers signed up for an extensive day of singing, dancing, drinking and socializing.
The wooded festival grounds offered three well-spaced stages: Pavilion Stage, West Stage and the Dance Forest. FreeFest is no stranger to big-name acts; as beloved bands Two Door Cinema Club, Deadmau5, The Black Keys, Matt and Kim, Weezer and The Black Eyed Peas (to name a small fraction) have graced its stages.
This year’s lineup proved equally stacked. The main stage, Pavilion, received City and Colour, MGMT, The Avett Brothers and Vampire Weekend. West Stage housed Chvrches, Icona Pop, Kaskade, Robin Thicke and Pretty Lights. Congorock, Gareth Emery and Madeon entertained the Dance Forest.
FreeFest’s lineup was gratifyingly scheduled, and attendees were fortunate to have exciting performance options at any given time.
In addition to the festival ground stages, FreeFest offered an array of distractions to explore. Artisan shops vended handmade umbrellas, dresses, purses, jewelry and more. Contortionists, jugglers, trapeze artists and silk acrobats dazzled in a circus zone.
Skateboarders enjoyed the half-pipe ramp. A sprinkler-equipped swing set and two pink, furry seesaws helped energized guests pass the time.
A vast chalkboard served as a “wishing wall,” where attendees wrote their wishes in neon chalk.
To oversee the bustling grounds, the signature, festival Ferris wheel was available to ride all throughout the day. Sporadic art sculptures and benches added to the scenic landscape.
From start to finish, FreeFest encouraged social networking amongst visitors. Texting the festival hotline with an emoticon released a giant, foam smiley face of your choice into the air. Hashtagging FreeFest on Instagram and Twitter connected app users, and pictures of Hopkins students were displayed on the many Pavilion jumbotrons!
Foreboding, overcast skies prevailed the first five hours of the event. Though, despite the overriding gray, attendees relished the 70-something degree weather and did not mind the occasional, fleeting sprinkle. The sea of guests on the grass were seen blithely lounging on blankets, donning shorts and even sunglasses.
The Knocks, Pavilion Stage’s first headliner, was the ideal festival opener, and their contagiously upbeat mood promised a pleasant day.
Unfortunately, hopes dropped as an unrelenting rain soaked attendees beginning midday. The inclement weather, although predicted, ushered guests away from their favorite acts at the West and Dance Forest stages, and to Pavilion — the sole roofed festival space.
The green, once littered with lounging and blanketed friends, quickly turned into a muddy slope. Countless walkers unintentionally slipped and slid down the outdoor viewing spaces, clothes coated in a thick, brown paste. A swampy stream took the place of a once crowded sidewalk. Guests unfolded umbrellas, zipped jackets and purchased ponchos.
Unprepared attendees ended up wet and chilled, shivering amidst fellow crowd members.
Although many claimed widespread misery and prematurely went home in some cases, FreeFest was not a lost cause. Once the weather was accepted as unchanging, the masses embraced the downpour as a fitting addition to the festival chaos.
Guests were wet and wild while dancing to Icona Pop and plenty of people simply took off their clothes or pumped umbrellas into the air. Groups shook their soaked hair and jumped in puddles during MGMT’s “Electric Feel.” Running and sliding across the muddy landscape became somewhat of a sport for daring individuals. The filthy bare backs and legs went unnoticed.
Freezing and soaked or dry and warm, attendees came for the music and made the most of the situation.
Kaskade easily maintained their status as a crowd favorite at the West Stage. The electro genius managed to pump up his audience during the rainy evening with incredible performances of his popular songs “Atmosphere” and “Feeling the Night.”
However, the true FreeFest saviors proved none other than the eagerly anticipated groups The Avett Brothers and Vampire Weekend.
The uncontrollable passion of The Avett Brothers electrified the pulsating crowd. Scott and Seth Avett danced, stomped and clapped to the beat of their folk rock. Bassist Joe Crawford and cellist Joe Kwon head-banged and performed with instruments raised above their heads.
Fortunate Pavilion Stage crowd members could not resist dancing out of their seats from the set’s beginning to end. “Live and Die,” “Head full of Doubt” and “Pretty Girl from Chile” were belted by fans.
The Avett Brothers displayed extraordinary instrumental versatility, rotating between vocals, keys and guitars without the slightest difficulty. Audience members can attest to the strength of the humble Avett Brothers as one of the rare bands that sounds better live, for recordings simply do not do the North Carolina natives justice.
Following The Avett Brothers set, Vampire Weekend, as expected, did not disappoint. Lead singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig put forth his familiar, New York City charisma. Vampire Weekend’s recently released album Modern Vampires of the City received endless acclaim from fans. As a result, Ezra’s FreeFest performances of “Unbelievers,” “Step,” “Everlasting Arms” and “Diane Young” thundered throughout the Pavilion.
Much to the satisfaction of long devoted fans, Vampire Weekend was sure to appreciate Contra’s “Horchata” and “Cousins,” and performed even older songs “A-Punk,” “Oxford Comma” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” from their first album.
After Vampire Weekend’s encore, FreeFest came to a happy end.
Many Hopkins students boarded the school buses generously provided by Student Government Association back to Homewood.
Despite a long day of unfortunate weather conditions and ridiculously overpriced food and alcohol, FreeFest will be remembered fondly and looked forward to in upcoming years.
