I had these grand aspirations to get this post up first thing Sunday morning…Monday morning…Tuesday morning…you see when it went up right? Your girl is 41 y’all and your girl is TIRED! Still! Who did I think I was hanging out with millenials for ten hours straight in gale force winds wearing a pair of chucks? Honey, let me tell you – I thought I was in my 20s again apparently, but life comes at you quick!

I was cute but a LOT of people were. I saw so much beauty and fashion and zest for life going on that I couldn’t help but be inspired. Glitter painted gals and guys, Afro-futurist artisans rocking plum and black painted pouts all mixed in with Au naturel hippie chic chicks channeling whatever cosmetic vibe they wanted without a care in the world of what others thought. Natural hair along with wigs and weaves down to there in a multitude of styles and rainbow flavors roamed Fed Ex field a plenty. Everyone arrived rocking everything from athleisure, to club kid kitsch and I was here for ALL. OF. IT!

A little fun fact is I that I attended the very first #BCFest back in 2013. I heard about it via Twitter and funny enough it was via a giveaway to win VIP tickets to the event. Well as luck would have it, I actually won! I was on my YouTube ish hard back then so I did capture the experience BUT for some reason there is no sound (y’all know how the YouTube streets be). Because its not a super long video I am including it for your viewing pleasure anyway.

The event hasn’t changed too much, the philosophy remains the same but long gone is the backpacker, carefree attitude. It is absolutely a WHOLE thing now, run by a machine and as we know on a much more grand scale. Is that not the point though? Anything that you put into the universe, do you not want to see it grow and flourish? I do not knock them for that at all.

There were a few hiccups along the way (breakdown in clear communication about what is allowed, delays in delivering on promises i.e. set times, pushing the time back an hour, and then STILL holding the gate past the new time), but once we got in I feel like all was forgiven. I hope they iron out the kinks for next year, not for me because I will not be there (I SAID I WAS TIRED!), but so they continue to have success. Two final suggestions:

• charging lockers should have more power and more cord options – if we leave our phones for an hour and come back they should almost be at 100%, not 20%. And most of us are Apples, not Androids, so either put 2 of each cord in there or just put the port and let us bring our own cords

• actually show the performances on the screens on both stages. The main stage even if you did have to stand by the food trucks to see over the sea of attendees, you could at least see the show. That other stage? Forget it. I only saw Teyana Taylor in the pics that were posted AFTER the fact via social media and I really wanted to see her perform 

Did I have a good time? I actually did. From the Crown Royal lounge, The Jack Daniels Honey Karoake truck, the free gear and food (IF you got there early) I feel like we literally did EVERYTHING and it was worth it. I do not feel like I paid too much at all. I got my money’s worth and I appreciated the lay a way of it all (other events should take note of that.) I just know its an event beyond my abilities at this point. My body takes a bit too long to recover.

Have you ever attended the Broccoli City Fest? If so, how was your experience? If not, do you plan on attending in the future?