Summer ended with a blast at FreeFest. This festival, which I attended at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, September 21st, featured artists such as MGMT, Robin Thicke, Kaskade, Icona Pop, Vampire Weekend, and Sky Ferreira.

From hippie-dressed fans, to pop-alternative music, to dance-party music, and an endless number of activities, FreeFest is truly a one-of-a-kind, pop-alternative music festival sponsored by Virgin Mobile. Tickets are free (yes, free) with donations to help house homeless youth. This year’s event, according to Virgin Mobile, raised nearly $800,000, and in the five years this festival has been going on, $1 Million has been raised.

The only way to get tickets is online.  For all those excited fans of FreeFest, this event always has a pre-sale with a special code available on their Twitter page, @Virginmobileusa that lets you get tickets before they actually go on sale. After the pre-sale, regular tickets go on sale the following day, which is the normal purchase day. It is FREEFest so, once the clock strikes noon, it is first-come, first-served for the free tickets. Each person can get two free tickets. Another option is that one can donate money and receive two free tickets, as well as free T-shirts and such, depending on how much one donates. Donation or not, even going to the event is still supporting homeless youth.

At this year’s show, fans were surprised that 21-year-old Sky Ferreira actually showed up to the event, due to her recent arrest 2 days prior for heroin and ecstasy possession. That didn’t seem to stop her, as she gave a beautiful performance with songs such as “Everything is Embarrassing,” and a new song that will be featured on her now- released album, “My Night, My Time.”

Although the festival began at 11a.m., my day began at 1p.m. when I saw the infamous Sky Ferreira. I continued my day as I traveled to the pavilion stage and listened to the mellow Little Green Cars, with fans sitting inside the pavilion area and on the grass on blankets, enjoying the music.

Then I decided to check out Dance Forest as DJ Manufactured Superstars played the dopest dance music. People were dancing like crazy with no care in the world. In that area people dressed in rave clothing such as flower headbands, tutus, and bright colors.

I made my way to the West Stage to listen to Icona Pop as it began to drizzle. What was worse was that it seemed that there thousands of people were also there to listen to their amazing music as the downpour started and continued to go on during their performance. Overall, they gave an electrifying performance with catchy songs and then performed their catchy single “I Love It.”

I then transitioned back and forth between stages and got to sit in the Pavilion Stage to listen to City and Colour as their mellow music soothed the crowd.

ollowing that, I witnessed Kaskade perform a catchy dance song as everyone danced happily in the rain. With the rain pouring down, I didn’t want to be in there any longer, so I made my way to the Pavilion Stage to hear the infamous MGMT. Despite a late start and a few mistakes, their performance was spectacular as they performed hit songs “Time to Pretend” and “There’s a Reason.” The crowd seemed to really love their psychedelic vibe.

Although I do regret missing Robin Thicke, I danced the night away in the Dance Forest as Gareth Emery and Madeon played catchy songs that had everybody dancing nonstop. That took all of my energy for the day. The hype of the people dancing carelessly got to me, and I lost track of time.

The music really brought people together. Everyone seemed so free. FreeFest truly lives up to its standards of nonstop fun. So think about getting your tickets when this funky festival comes around next year.