Lost Lake Festival

What can I say? Lost Lake Festival was amazing. I had no idea what to expect, other than music festivals up in Seattle at the Gorge, I've never been to any others. I knew that they had been super thoughtful with their food vendors, making sure that everyone that went would have plenty of options, I knew that they had a pretty awesome lineup of music and I knew that they were creating experiences and plenty of drinks to enhance the entire experience. That was it, that was all I knew.

What I hoped was that this event was going to be successful. I hoped that they were going to pull it off. And I really hoped that they were going to come back for another year. This kind of festival, whether you want to attend it or not, is good, no it's GREAT for Phoenix! This is the kind of event that can continue to grow and help people see our city in a different light. This is the kind of event that can pull people in from different states. Sure we have sports events that pull people in each year but this music festival touches a different demographic.

credit: Quinsey Sablan

When I arrived at the festival, it was easy to get in. It was quick and I never had a line to wait in, granted I had media passes but I never saw a line for general admission either. When you walk into the park, you're greeted by all kinds of sculptures, food trucks, a market and the people. People watching was EPIC! I've been to this park before but it felt so much bigger the way they set it up. The flow of events was great, it was exciting, it was lively and there was constantly something going on.

Guests were there all day long and they were able to hang out, go to shows, listen from afar, take pictures, walk around, drink, play games and so much more. If you missed out this year, I hope you get a chance to check it out next year.

As I mentioned, I've been to plenty of food festivals but this is my first music festival like this and from what I could see, it was one of the best run festivals. For the size of it and everything that was going on, things ran smooth. There was enough food places for everyone to hit and enough places to grab drinks. It never felt too crowded. I mean, it felt like they had their shit together, behind the scenes things may have been falling apart, but I couldn't tell.

credit: Quinsey Sablan

I checked out the shows on Saturday and Sunday. I got to be up close and personal with Lil Jon, The Roots, The Killers, Run The Jewels and Major Lazer. The shows were setup well and the sounds was good. I can't say much more, other than it was awesome.

I kept thinking to myself before the festival, I'm too old to hang out in a crowded space listening to music and getting sweaty. But the truth was, once I was there, I wasn't and there's something exciting about being in a huge crowd that's surging to the same beat. That never gets old, no matter how old I feel!

I suppose I should talk about the food, although this is a music festival, the food was pretty awesome. While I didn't get to try everything because that would be excessive. Everything I did try, was perfect. The most popular dishes seemed to be those loaded tots and crazy sized hamburgers. One day, all I wanted was dessert and Churn had a sundae that blew my mind! I had Left Coast Burrito's grilled cheese hipster, which was amazing. Gangster burger and Gorilla Cheese Truck were lit. Kaleidoscope supplied that charcoal water shot when I needed to cleanse. Gadzooks had them festival tacos on lock down. The guys at Clever Koi were slinging out their dishes like nobody's business. I had fish and chips which were awesome and some bbq mac and cheese that brought me to my knees.

There was no shortage of drinks either, SanTan Brewing Co., Phoenix Ale Brewery, and Huss Brewing Co. were featured in the festival’s Brewpark.

All in all, it was a good two days. Ones that will be remembered forever. So if you're reading this and if you were on the fence about coming this year, I hope I've made a case for you to attend next year. Come join the 45,000 other people that attended this year.

Learn more at LostLakeFestival.com, on Twitter@lostlakefest, Facebook facebook.com/lostlakefest and on Instagram @lostlakefest.