Mojofest @ Penn State
Penn State’s newest tradition has made its way to the mountains
Last year, Local Mojo held their first ever “MojoFest” in Hadley, Massachusets. After starting the orginization and covering several smaller shows since 2021, they’ve broken out into a major sucess and are now spreading out to several festivals per year. This year specifically, Penn State, one of their most covered areas, was able to host their own MojoFest at the Happy Valley Mountian Ski Resort. Welcoming a plethela of local bands and DJs, the festival ran from 2:00pm - 10:00pm and saw every form of weather thrown their way.
When the festival began, it was apparent already that the venue would be packed. The rail was already crowded, people were already claming their spots on the back lawn. The groups of people all felt so familiar, since Beaver Stadium was still within eyeshot, almost every group of people were already familiar with each other. This fed into a unique unity that allowed the normal social warmup that may have been required at a normal festival to be skipped. By the time the first band, Sarasota, had taken the stage the crowd was already raving. Jumping and the rail, screaming to the lyrics, and turning to each other to sing. Which was interesting, since this was only a local college band with very little online presence, but everyone knew almost every word. Once again showcasing how the local groups were somewhat able to unite the crowd more than a normal set filling band might’ve been able to.
Throughout the entire afternoon, it wasn’t just the bands that were able to being people together. People were constantly intermingling at the local vendors who were able to set up shop in the back lawn. From jewelry to even local thrift finds, and a spot with furniture to simply sit and talk with other festival goers, there was something for everyone to do in-between the sets while setup was underway. Especially those who were fans of EDM, since between each set there was a featured DJ on the side stage. From mashups to house dance music, throughout all the sets there was everything. Most DJs even managing to pull crowds away from the main stage to become the main attraction for a while.
At around slightly after halfway through the festivals runtime, what would’ve been disaster anywhere else struck. A downpour began on the festival grounds at forecasts said that the rain wouldn’t stop till after the full set had ended. But that didn’t stop the dedicated fans at Happy Valley. If anything, the energy skyrocketed after the rain began. Fans climbing on shoulders, consistent crowd surfing, and a laser light program that kept the crowd jumping through every beat of the show. The downpour couldn’t flood out Mojofest, and as the first of three festivals, there’s only going to be more music to play.
Photos by Tristan Reiser
