Pig and Whiskey 2014

Last week thousands of people from all different walks of life descended onto Ferndale, Michigan for the 2014 Pig and Whiskey festival. This was a three day affair that featured live music, cold beer, strong whiskey, and all the BBQ a person could ask for.

The sun was shining throughout the weekend, which drew a bigger crowd than previous years. Apparently, after the longest winter in recent history it was time for everyone to get outside and have a good time.  Earlier in the day there were a lot of families and late at night the kids filled the streets.

This year's musical lineup was one of the most solid local festival lineups of all time, there wasn't a bad act from start to finish.  The weekend was filled with memorable performances, including The Beggars, Blaire Alise and the Bombshells, The HandGrenades, Pony Show, Seven Birds one Stone, The ILL Itches, Sean Forbes, and many more.

 

I discovered a few new bands that I am looking forward to seeing again in the future. This included The Electric Lion Sound Wave Experiment, they played a killer set on Saturday. I was dancing the entire time they preformed.

This year I didn't attend the festival as a patron, instead I worked the drink ticket booth right next to the beer tent. This helped me see the event from a whole new perspective. It truly is a weekend for locals to kick back, let there hair down, and have some fun.  It is amazing that music, food, and alcohol can bring so many different people to one place.  There is not an average age, and no typical patron at this festival. In fact, there were a lot of people who told me that it was their first time in Ferndale while they were buying their tickets. They came out and tried something new. A lot of people had so much fun on Friday that we saw them again on Saturday. It was a great opportunity for local bands to win over some new fans.

The Detroit Derby Girls worked extra hard to serve up as many beers as possible.  They brought a ton of positive energy to the event by yelling, screaming, ringing bells, and making sure that everyone had a great time. I hope that everyone remembered to tip these ladies so they can keep serving up more fun for years to come.

I think we all owe a hung thank you to the organizers and sponsors of this festival. It was amazing to see how smoothly things ran throughout the weekend.  There are so many moving pieces that have to come together to make this event happen. We are lucky to live in a place where there is enough good music, good food, good alcohol, and good people to make something of this magnitude possible.  I hope that this festival continues to grow and prosper over the years because it truly is one of the best events of the summer.  In the words of Nine Inch Nails "The pigs have won tonight. Now, they can all sleep soundly, and everything is all right."  

~S