LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Music lovers filled a parking lot along Davis Street in Scranton on Thursday morning.
Fans loaded their gear to spend the weekend on Montage Mountain for the 11th annual Peach Music Festival.
Many people say they arrive early to secure a good spot to camp for the four-day music festival, which features bands on three stages.
Concert-goers dragged wagons filled with tents, coolers, and all the supplies they need to spend four days camping and listening to more than 60 bands on three stages. Many of the people we spoke with are Peach Music Festival first-timers and say they did their best to prepare for whatever the weekend brings.
"I spent days on Reddit and whatnot just looking at forums and seeing what people who had gone in the past said. Gave us some really good tidbits of information," said Sean Muldoon from Norwich, New York.
People came prepared for all weather, including heat and rain. Smoke from Canadian wildfires was something they didn't expect, but most said they don't mind.
Nate McCarty and his friends left their homes in the Philadelphia area early this morning to beat the crowds.
"I wanted to get a good spot. We want to make sure we're all good and ready to go. Ready to party hardy," McCarty said.
The Skibber brothers reunited for Peach Fest.
Originally from Hawley, Bob Skibber flew in from Oregon, saying he couldn't miss spending the weekend with his brother Danny and their friends at a venue they know so well.
"The lineup is just heavy hitters every night, and we grew up coming into this mountain to go skiing, and when they added the water park, and now they added the festival, and now you get the best of both worlds," they said.
Many of the concertgoers we spoke with are first-timers at Peach Fest.
Sean Muldoon says he did a lot of research on the event before taking the roughly two-hour ride from New York.
"The big question on my mind is how far up the slope am I going to have to hike to get a decent spot? I got a hammock. Just so if I am on an incline, be a little bit more comfortable that way," he said.
People will spend all weekend on the mountain and need to be prepared for any weather Mother Nature throws at them.
They've got water for the heat, rain gear, and tarps for rain, but the smoke from the Canadian wildfires wasn't something they expected.
"I mean, this happened a couple of weeks ago too, like around us, but like it's awful. But yeah, so sad," Lily Gonglik of Bucks County said.
"It's already going to be smoky. It's a Music Fest, so I've prepared for that smoke, but I don't know. It looks cool," McCarty added.
Gates opened at noon. The first band is scheduled to take the stage at 5 p.m.
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