As the gates opened for X-Fest on Saturday, the feeling of raindrops briefly put a scare into festival producer Chris Ricci.
As things turned out, the overcast skies did not dampen the 13th annual music festival in downtown Modesto.
Promoters
had told authorities to expect more than 20,000 people to attend the
festival. As of Sunday, Ricci still was running a tally on the ticket
sales. He expected to have an official number today.
The festival went tremendously well,” he said. “It was very smooth. It lived up to its billing.”
Ricci
said he was pleased with the more-elaborate productions that were
booked, such as Dancetronauts, a high-energy company featuring DJs,
visual effects and professional dancers.
This year’s festival featured 60 bands on 12 stages between H and J streets and 10th and 13th streets.
The
21-and-older event included reggae, hip-hop, metal and Latin music. It
also had roller derby, wrestling matches, a female model mud-wrestling
pit, a foam dance party and lots of adult beverages.
“We tried a lot of new things this year and it was thrilling to see the stuff that worked,” Ricci said.
Modesto
police said they responded to an average number of disturbances during
X-Fest, even though this year’s festival was larger. A few more downtown
streets were blocked off than in previous years.
A dozen fights
were reported and seven people were arrested on suspicion of being drunk
in public. There were three felony arrests and three people were cited
on misdemeanor charges, police said.
“It seemed like the people
who needed to go to jail went to jail,” said Modesto police Detective
Steve Stanfield, who was assigned to the festival. “For the most part,
it was a safe event.”
Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at kcarlson@modbee.com or (209) 578-2321.
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