“I don’t want to leave the Hangout” yelled Grace Potter of “Grace Potter and the Nocturnals,” halfway through the band’s Friday afternoon set. “I want to stay here forever with all you beautiful people.”

Potter’s quote pretty much sums up the feelings of both the musicians and participants of this year’s Hangout Music Fest. Boasting sold-out ticket sales (35,000 tickets) and practically sold out room accommodations from Fort Morgan to Orange Beach, nobody can claim the event was not a success.

The weekend festivities began Thursday evening at the pre-party, open to those who opted for the extra night’s ticket, giving those in attendance a sneak peak of what was to come. Friday, the opening day of the festival, could have been described as hectic but fun, with thousands of people excitedly waiting outside the gate to exchange their paper tickets for the 3-day wristband before the festival’s 1 pm start time.

“The priority is the fan experience,” Shaul Zislin, the festival’s founder, told a Press-Register [Read more...]