Bakersfield lined up early to partake in an experience that pulls in their love for music, beer, and most of all macaroni and cheese.  The sixth annual Macaroni and Cheese Festival took place on April 20 in CSU Bakersfield’s Main Soccer Field for those 21 and over.

The event featured live music from Truxton Mile, a local up and coming country group. There were about 30 vendors of wine, beer, and pasta that consisted of places such as Temblor Brewing, Sully’s, Hooters, Just Wing It, The BLVD, Famous Dave’s, and many other booths were available to those in attendance.

Emilia Mendez, an employee from Strata Credit Union who is on her second year of attending the festival, was happy with the variety of different drinks saying that “there was mango beer, watermelon beer, and so much more” to try.

Many attendees seemed to take advantage of the beer and wine sampling booths as lines were always plentiful. The overall atmosphere of the event was something that many agreed on.

Austin Ream, who has attended the festival three times and works as an administration assistant, described the vibe of the event as “laidback.” Meanwhile, Ream felt the event had a very consistent chill vibe to it.

Many cited that it was a mixture of different aspects of the event that made it so. These aspects range from seating, attire, and just the whole surrounding environment.

Jessica Hernandez, a nanny who has attended the festival two years in a row, said that last year’s weather was hotter, and that she was glad that they added more seating with umbrellas that gave attendees more shade this time around making this year the “coolest year” for her.

Ream commented on how she liked that “you don’t have to be too fancy” to go to the event, and it just adds to the casual feel of the festival. The event also had a few games that could be played in teams in the Cornhole game. The festival had all mac and cheese vendors trying to gather votes until voting ended at 5 p.m. The winners of the Macaroni and Cheese festival were announced by one of Hot 94.1’s radio hosts near the end at 5:15 p.m. Countryside Market took first place making this their fourth consecutive win with their chile verde mac and cheese.

Second place went to Dickie’s Barbecue Pit. Third place went to Murray Farms with their cheesecake mac and cheese creation.

After winners were announced, all attendees were prompted to go to the stage area and dance out the last 40 minutes of the festival with a variety of songs like “Bodak Yellow,” “Sunflower,” “Twerk,” “Suavemente,” “Danza Kurduro,” “West Coast,” and other songs to get people on their feet.

“The experience is the best part from having fun being outside with different people, having a good time with friend,” said Ream. “It’s just something I look forward to every year.”