This past weekend, September 6th and 7th, the St. Louis community joined together for two days of music and fun at Loufest, St. Louis’ very own music festival.

People, dressed in “artsy” outfits, leather jackets and colorful bandanas, gathered in Forest Park to see some of their favorite bands and just have a good time.

From the beginning, Loufest was well organized. The website had festival tips, tricks and any information you might need. Tickets could be bought online and were simply emailed to you, which you could then print out and take to the concert in exchange for your wristband, if you were going both Saturday and Sunday.

The great organization extended into the festival itself. . Stages were set up around the area, not too far away from each other, but not too close that you couldn’t enjoy a band without hearing the background of another group. Loufest also contained a small market, where creative and unique art goods could be purchased. Food and drink were not missing. The appropriately named “Nosh Pit” contained tents fromdifferent local restaurants. From Kaldi’s Coffee to the Turkish restaurant, Aya Sofia.

In concern of facilities, there were plenty of port-a-potties around the area. Although lines got long, it was great to have the bathrooms right by you.

However, people don’t come to Loufest for the bathrooms or the food; they come for the music. With four different stages and two days worth of amazing bands, the crowd always had a great act to see. While there were some more famous bands playing there, such as Arctic Monkeys and OutKast, the majority of the musicians were lesser known local talent, and Loufest gave St. Louisans a chance to get to know the homegrown music scene. .

The concerts were well planned as well. Having bands like Arctic Monkeys at night was a great choice by the Loufest organizers. In the night, the whole atmosphere was different and strobe lights really made a difference. The Arctic Monkeys had a great performance, especially because of this choice of timing.

The Loufest weekend was capped off with perfect weather, and as the sun set, the crowd gathered around the stage, dancing to the music, singing along and wishing the night would go on forever.