A cold and rainy High Fest jump-started the Athens fest season Saturday.
Despite packed sidewalks and blaring music heard from many houses on High Street, most attendees said the crowd seemed smaller than last year.
“I thought more people would be here,” said Jordan Via, an Ohio University senior studying communication.
Via, who lives on the corner of High and Washington streets, spent more than $100 on her first High Fest party.
“It will pick up later,” Via said at about 3 p.m. “People aren’t ridiculous yet.”
Junior Rachael Jaffe also said she was disappointed by the number of people there, adding that the party was better last year.
“It was on my birthday last year,” Jaffe said. “The move was terrible for me.”
High Fest originally was scheduled for April 23, but was moved up a week because of the Easter holiday.
Athens Police Department and OU Police Officers began patrolling the party at about 4 p.m., as more people began to arrive. By 5 p.m., officers said they had not encountered many problems.
"So far so good — but it’s early,” said Athens Police Officer Bob Filal, adding that, by 5 p.m., officers had made only one arrest and given two citations.
Last year, the Athens Fire Department shut down the fest after revelers set trash and lawn furniture on fire in the middle of the street. Students also were throwing cans and bottles into the street.
Although the crowd picked up later in the evening, the party didn’t get out-of-hand enough for officers to shut it down.
Throughout the day, partiers were selling food along the street. Tyler Bryan, a senior studying education, was one student selling grilled cheese to fundraise for the Spirit of Kairos, a weekend retreat for students at Fur Peace Ranch.
“I felt like drunk people would like grilled cheese,” Bryan said.
Bryan added that he normally doesn’t come to fests, but he likes the music playing on the street during the day.
“It has better music than other parties, not just rap,” he said.
Most houses were playing their own music, but live bands appeared at many houses along the street.
Local band Bricks and Bones began playing at 3 p.m., at 68 High St., and continued for the rest of the night.
Although police officers could not provide the number of arrests and citations given during the day, they said there were not many problems and that only a handful of people were arrested.
At about 8 p.m., the party began to die down and by 9 p.m., only one house was still playing music.
But even with the early end to the dreary first fest day of the season, students, such as Corbin Smith, a sophomore studying video production, said they still enjoyed the party.
“I had a fantastic time last year, I had a fantastic time this year,” Smith said.
@ThePostCity
