Six hours. Eight per­form­ers. Two stages. One free out­door festival.

Ferris Fest was held April 21 in the quad from noon to 6 p.m. Besides watch­ing musi­cal per­for­mances on the two stages, there were many other nov­el­ties and activ­i­ties to do.

There was a bounce house where stu­dents could relive their child­hoods. Human bowl­ing was a big hit; par­tic­i­pants were locked in a large round cage and rolled down a track. The photo booth and giant chair with acces­sories brought out the silly side of concert-goers. In addi­tion, there was free food pro­vided by Jet’s Pizza, Jimmy John’s and Buffalo Wild Wings.

The per­form­ers on the main stage were Kris Hitchcock and Small Town Son, Act as One, Travis Porter and All Time Low. Second stage per­form­ers included KingRut, sam fran­jiONE and kabare, Pharaoh B and Overdrive Orchestra.

Jacob Ustick, FSU fresh­man in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­ogy, came to Ferris Fest for the music, specif­i­cally Travis Porter.

“I think for being in a small town, hav­ing big bands is pretty cool,” Ustick said.

Those in the crowd had to watch out for fly­ing sub sand­wiches and t-shirts that were being launched out from the stage. Some atten­dees had been at the front of the crowd since 11 a.m. to get a bet­ter view of their favorite act, while oth­ers were relaxed on the grass, talk­ing with friends and enjoy­ing the show from a distance.

Emcee Byron Williams, FSU junior in pub­lic rela­tions, was very pleased with how the event turned out.

“The event has gone great. I am so happy with the amount of peo­ple who showed up to sup­port Ferris Fest,” Williams said. “Ferris Fest is for the stu­dents, and I’m so glad to see so many stu­dents here. The turnout is more than we expected. We have, I’m sure, 2,000 plus peo­ple out here right now.”

Although the major­ity of atten­dees were most excited for Travis Porter and All Time Low, this fes­ti­val fea­tured a vari­ety of artists span­ning across gen­res such as hip-hop, pop, punk and country.

Some con­cert goers, such as Grand Rapids Community College fresh­men Kim Peterman and Heather Russo, trav­elled over an hour and showed up hours before their favorite act per­formed. Peterman and Russo have been fans of All Time Low for five or six years, they said, and couldn’t wait to see them perform.

Act As One mem­ber Taylor Nagel was pleased with the crowd’s response and enjoyed his time at Ferris.

“It’s been great,” Nagel said. “They’re par­ty­ing out there.”

Heather Schultz, FSU junior study­ing phar­macy, and her friends went all-out and made match­ing tie-dye t-shirts for the event.

When asked about her favorite act, she quickly responded, “Travis Porter. Everything about it was amaz­ing. Everybody loved it. Everybody was going crazy.” n