After a two-year-long hiatus, the long-awaited Music Midtown has returned to Piedmont Park. The two-day festival filled with friends, fun, and music was welcomed back with open arms by many North Atlanta students this September.

The festival has been a fan favorite of the Warriors for years. For one weekend in September, students of all grade levels gather in Piedmont Park to listen to their favorite artists all for the price of one concert ticket (30+ shows for the price of one, who doesn’t love that?). When the unfortunate, but expected, decision was made to cancel Music Midtown in 2020, many Dubs were crestfallen. Luckily for the current group of NAHS students, Music Midtown returned this year in full swing. Even with two years off, the festival did not miss a beat. “I went to Music Midtown in both 2019 and 2021. Surprisingly, I thought this year’s Music Midtown was better,” said junior Olivia Roth. “The headliners were amazing and, despite the rainy weather, this year’s festival was much more memorable with it being the first time many of us had been to a concert in over a year.”

The scattered rainstorms, COVID regulations, and sky-high ticket prices couldn’t keep the Dubs away even if they tried. Music midtown goers were prepared for the spotty weekend forecast, coming ready with rainboots and ponchos in hand. Of course, a music festival taking place in a pandemic comes with a unique set of COVID related-rules. Everyone attending the event was required to present a printout of their vaccine card or a negative COVID test result within the past 72 hours just to get through the gates. Once inside, attendees were able to roam around the park mask-free if they pleased. However, perhaps the most daunting prerequisite of all was the ticket price. Many students paid upwards of $175 just to get into the festival. But, headliners such as Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus, 21 Savage, and Megan Thee Stallion made the drained bank accounts all worth it. “This year was my first time going to Music Midtown,” said senior Sam Jackson. “It was so fun and definitely worth the money.” 

Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the festival was the food. With options ranging from chicken tenders to pizza, the food provided was surprisingly good; except, the same can’t be said for the prices. A slice of pizza was a perfect mid-festival snack at the cost of $9 per slice (To be fair, many students said the pizza “slapped”, so perhaps it was worth the $9 after all.).

Nonetheless, the Dubs overcame the food and ticket expenses and had themselves a blast! It is safe to say that the weekend was a success. Get your calendars (and your bank accounts) ready Dubs, only 365 days until next year’s festival!