Throughout the rest of the weekend, zero alcohol was sold, though fans were free to bring their own, and wagons full of beer for sale were common until the police cracked down on Sunday.

The show ended  at 7 p.m., but that didn’t hold the party back. The sun and moods were high most of the three days, even with the time-consuming maze among the stages. A good view was never guaranteed from behind the dense walls of people having a good time.

“I never really pictured myself dancing with a bunch of hippies, listening to bluegrass,” said Mike Mckinze, a high school teacher from Fresno. “But I’ve been saying y’all and slapping my thigh for a couple hours now.”

As the crowd paid tribute to bluegrass, bands paid tribute to each other with frequent covers, which added a casual touch to the event as a whole, like overalls and a cowboy hat do to a wardrobe.

M. Ward, who can also be seen next to Zooey Deschanel in the band She & Him, covered Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.” Chris Isaak gave tribute to “Pretty Woman” by R0y Orbison. Fitz and the Tantrums put a swanky spin on Eurythmics’s “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and “Steady As She Goes” by the Raconteurs.

Fitz’s set was a nicely packaged symbol of the festival as a whole. The upcoming Los Angeles soul-pop band played towards the end of the festival late Sunday afternoon, and is a display as to how far elements of original American music have morphed through history.

Heartache, resilience, homesickness and booze were proud themes of the weekend, each broken down and built up in dozens of styles and time period, by dozens of different bands. All of them – just like the festival – brought together by the love of a good time.

“It’s a very pure experience. No one’s getting rich off this,” said Mal Fischer, a 54-year-old mother from Colorado, about the festival. “It’s here for the very simple purpose of enjoying music.”

And enjoyed it was.