Bonfires, Bob Saget and more than 144 bands all played a role in the first-ever Harvest of Hope [ tickets ] Fest. The three-day event (3/6-8) attracted some 15,000 music fans to St. Augustine's St. Johns County Fairgrounds for a sun-filled weekend of live shows and camping to benefit and promote awareness for the Harvest of Hope Foundation, an organization providing emergency and educational aid to migrant farm workers and their families.

Variety was at the forefront of the weekend--both in terms of attendees and sounds. Four stages featured artists of essentially every musical genre; folk, hip-hop, electronic, country, indie rock and hardcore styles were represented. Artists came from Canada, Mexico, Europe, Tel Aviv, and throughout the US, and donated their time or performed at reduced rates. The bill touted such acts as Against Me! [ tickets ], The National, Propagandhi, GZA, Bad Brains and Mountain Goats.

Aside from several food and merch vendors, the festival site offered retro-fairground rides and carnival games. However, most of the crowd seemed to prefer standing in front of stages, as opposed to partaking in rides and games, particularly since there was a fee for these added entertainment options. In fact, one of the biggest attributes of this event was its recession-friendly affordability. Three-day passes were around $40, camping was merely $30 for four people and beer was priced at $3. Event coordinator Ryan Murphy explained that keeping it low-cost was a major goal. "We were a little nervous about such low prices, but you know, when beer is $3, people will be happy," he told LiveDaily following the event.

Starting after 4 p.m., Friday's line-up was highlighted by Berlin psychedelic-gospel rockers King Khan & The Shrines, whose charismatic frontman led the crowd like a preacher hosting a revival. Southern rockers The Takers attracted a small crowd of country fans to their set. Later, Gainesville-punk vets Less Than Jake encouraged onlookers to create a massive circle pit that extended around the sound booth, but the majority of attendees were at the stage next door, dancing rave-style to the remix mashups by Pittsburg DJ Girl Talk. The love-hate for Girl Talk among those present was obvious when New York ska-punks Bomb The Music Industry! mockingly dedicated a Green Day song to the mix-master. When the band's set ended, the crowd repeatedly chanted "F--- Girl Talk!"

Saturday featured a more subdued gig from Atlanta's Deerhunter, 'experimental indie rockers, who were once well known for their interesting live antics and obscure sounds. Skeletal frontman Bradford Cox admitted to being "a total a--hole" when he announced that most listeners there were probably unfamiliar with his band, but when he asked for a show of hands, more than half the crowd claimed to know the group. Across the way, the hardcore None More Black inspired a mosh-pit and shared their passionate political views between songs. Later that day, Nebraskan indie poppers Tilly and The Wall livened up things at their stage, just before one of the biggest draws of the night, Florida punk rockers Against Me!, performed; the group has been dedicated to helping the Harvest of Hope Foundation for several years.

Things began to wind down on Sunday, but energetic sets by Canadian indie-garage rockers Tokyo Police Club, who had to cancel their set on Friday, and New York's The Harlem Shakes were enough to inspire the weary onlookers to dance and sing along. Getting things even more charged up was the Orlando punk unit Monikers, who caught major attention by performing on the ground in front of their stage. Onlookers encircled the band and tossed around the lead singer crowd-surf-style.

Although day-passes were available, a large portion of fans partook in the camping option. At the campsites, Mohawk punks, mustachioed hipsters, barefoot hippies, baseball-capped preps and a six-foot healing Shaman all mingled within the intimate, 13-acre, primitive camping plot. Although campers had to park in a designated area and then lug their gear several feet to the campsite, it didn't deter some folks from bringing couches, dozens of gnome lawn ornaments and barbeque grills.

Considering the diversity of the campers, the overnight scene remained mostly civil, but certainly not calm. The music always ended before midnight. However, as if almost making a joke of the area's posted noise restrictions, extremely boisterous late-night drum circles, dancing, singing and impromptu parades around the site occurred both nights, lasting well into the early morning hours.

The bonfire planned for Friday evening nearly turned into a riot when authorities had to put out the flames, which started to dart vertically into the brittle, dry tree tops surrounding the site. Mild chaos shortly ensued with onlookers angrily chanting and calling the man extinguishing the fire "Bob Saget," a label that was apparently given to him because he resembled the actor-comedian. The term became a reoccurring joke and mantra among campers for the rest of the weekend.

For a festival in its first year, and without corporate sponsorship, Harvest of Hope effectively brought together fun, good music and a spectrum of people to benefit its cause. While it's too early to promise this will be an annual event, Event Coordinator Ryan Murphy said, "This has to happen every year. I've been blown away by the generosity of all the people who came together to make this happen. It was an amazing success."