Blues singer Danielle Nicole kicked off the festival at 5:30 p.m. There were six performances total on Friday Sept. 25, which marked the first day of the annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival.

Friday has the least amount of performances, but what the starting day lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. Buddy Guy, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires and Dr. John were just some of the artists that hit the stage.

All ages ventured out to Stephens Lake Park for a night full of jams.

“We noticed there are a lot of families and older people,” senior Kelsey Taylor says.

Although the majority of the audience was not college students, the $25 student ticket still did its job of attracting a few more students than past years.

“I looked at the tickets and saw they were $50 and I was like, ‘No way, I’m not going,’ but then the student ones made it better,” senior Jordyn Cloud says.

There was something for everyone at the festival from a Ferris wheel and hula hooping area for the kids to a beer garden for the adults. Plus there were a ton of food vendors that everyone could enjoy.

“We just had some of the barbeque and it was delicious,” Cloud says.

Although there was an impressive amount of food vendors, Friday night was missing some of the arts and crafts vendors that festival-goers were expecting.

“I wish there were more art vendors,” attendee Kathy Moonig says. “I would love to see more of that mix of art and music together.”

Despite that, day one was still a hit. The weather was exceptional, the park was beautiful and there was great music to be discovered.

“We like to listen to the people we know and find new artists that we don’t know,” Monnig says.

Friday was just the tip of the iceberg. There are still two more days remaining for Roots N Blues.