Over the past weekend, I went to my first music festival, Panorama Music Festival, to be more specific and boy, was it an experience (seriously, guys, I peaked). To put into words what occurred over the weekend is a challenge in itself, but one nonetheless I’m deciding to accept with open arms.

Chances are if you are going to one of these music festivals, you are either a big fan of a few of the bands playing, a lover of music who is ready to embrace new artists, or perhaps some combination of both.

For myself, I was that combination of both. Not only am I a huge fan of a few of the artists who absolutely slayed the stage—MØ, Frank Ocean, Mura Masa and Matoma—just to name a few, but I am a lover of finding new tunes and new artists that give me moves like Jagger!

Before attending the long-awaited music festival, expectations were taken to the highest of highs. Accompanied by my boyfriend, roommate and roommate’s younger sister, we were destined to have such a great time.

In addition to a killer crew to romp around the grounds with, I knew the day would be filled with amazing music, kick-ass food and some of the coolest art installations I would ever see. Constant email updates from the festival, daily Pinterest scrolling for festival look inspo and planning our days out, the hype could not have been more real!

You know that moment when you just get so overwhelmed to think of anything other than this is real life, right?? This is too awesome to not be a dream. Yeah, well, that was day one of the festival for me.

The entire time my eyes were open wide, soaking in every last person, stage and structure the festival had to offer me, memorizing them all just in case I somehow woke up back in bed. My head was spinning with excitement as I jumped around, jamming out to some of my favorite artists. One performance was insanely memorable for me and not just because it happened to be the first artist of the day. If anyone has heard of MØ, or not, you have to see this woman absolutely own the stage (seriously, YouTube it if you need to).

Every song was given the maximum amount of effort teamed up with her punk-rock moves amping up the crowd with each upcoming beat. Her performance was raw, real and awe-inspiring; I just couldn’t get enough of moments like this. Like I mentioned, this was the first show of the day I had seen and it blew away every expectation I had for the remainder of the day, and let me tell you, it only got better and better.

My night ended with another favorite of mine, Frank Ocean, who I’m sure if you keep up with any pop culture, you would know just how amazing this performance truly was. You could feel the energy, heart and soul of the crowd, swaying along and hanging onto every word this man so angelically sang. His real-life music video performance took the day, night and entire weekend to new heights.

Day two gave way to similar vibes, only heightened…if that was even possible! The posse and I ferried over to the grounds early to see the biggest art installation called The Lab.

It housed different interactive experiences for festival-goers such as pushing down a lever to release a smell and sound of a certain emotion, a big blow-up blob to touch and change color and patterns, and even a chance to try some intense virtual reality.

The biggest installation of all was called “The Dome,”—intense sounding, I know. Lying in the middle of a mosh of beanbag chairs and randos, everyone was mesmerized at the dome ceiling and its sensory performance; I won’t delve into too much detail, it was an experience in itself. The day continued with mind-blowing, body-shaking performances for the whole island to appreciate and I have never felt more grateful in my life.

As for day three, that just might have to be another article for another week.

One realization I can take away from going to a music festival is that everyone is truly one big family and we are all the same. While roaming the grounds, I observed my fellow festival-goers for who they were.

Regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, sobriety, wealth or anything that differentiates a human being from one another, were completely overlooked by fellow peers; no judgments, no hatred. Looking around during any performance, you can see everyone will their guards stripped down, dancing like no one was watching, and enjoying the moment for what it was—a great moment.

Not only did we all mesh together in the same crowd, jammed to the same music and drank the same beer, we were all there for the same reason—to have an amazing time and pretend life problems did not exist.

Whether it was on line for the art installations, on line at food, waiting for your favorite performer, or riding the ferry to and from, there was always someone who shared the same excitement as you. It’s an indescribable and unspoken bond that we all share forever. Not to mention, on the Wednesday after the weekend while on my way to grab my lunch, I chatted with some stranger who heard me mention I had went to the festival and BAM, immediate connection.

The point of sharing my experience, besides my encouraging and persuasive convincing to go to a music festival, was first foremost because I learned a life lesson every human being needs to understand; we are all people.

It didn’t matter who you were, what you were wearing, or where you came from; we all came together to find happiness in good music. And I think we all need a little reminder of that every now and then, especially in light of recent news stories. I learned a lot about myself this weekend without a doubt.

For me, this music festival was more than just a bunch of concerts, an excuse to break my wall of inhibitions, and a vacation from the real world; it opened my eyes to all of the different types of people this Earth really holds. And let me tell you, this world possesses some really great people.