Here is a photo of us (bottom left hand corner-ish): my boyfriend (bowler hat) a few friends and I (red-ish skirt, black tank) front and center at the Arrow Stage at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2011. Our friends got up super early in the morning to get this spot. We met them there around 10:30 or 11am and proceeded to hold down our spot tough. At times, the crowd behind us was so thick it was like a literal wall of bodies. Everyone was packed in so tight we could barely move, dance or even breathe and it felt like at any moment, the tens of thousands of people behind us would surge forward and squish us to death. More than once that day people started fights with us over our epic spot, but we stood our ground. The lineup that day began with Moonalice, and then things got crazy during the Devil Makes Three. People were swinging giant bottles of Jack Daniels and trying to start mosh pits! Mother Hips was fairly mellow, save for some craziness with a crazy whiskey-drunk guy leftover from Devil Makes Three. Then came Hot Buttered Rum who rocked the house. They threw out free CDs and one of them took this photo of the crowd (with us in it!). At the end of the day, Dark Star Orchestra took the stage and all the craziness became worth it as we lost ourselves in the music we'd waited all day to hear. I will never forget this crazy awesome day, and it is definitely one of my favorite festival memories ever, especially with this awesome photo souvenir to prove it all happened.

by: Lindsey S