Things to Do

The 2013 Sweetlife Festival: Mud, 1; Salad, 0 (Photos)

The highs and lows of this year’s music-and-food fest.

Kendrick Lamar. Photographs by Tanya Pai.

Sweetlife, the day-long festival hosted by salad chain Sweetgreen, returned on Saturday
with headliners Passion Pit, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Phoenix, and food by trucks
such as Pepe and the Big Cheese, a Toki Underground/13th Street Meats collaboration,
and, of course, Sweetgreen. As appears to be traditional now at Sweetlife, rain sheeted down midway through the festival but cleared up in time for the last few acts.
Here, a breakdown of the day’s Sweetflow highs and quinoa lows—plus some photos.

Sugary Sweet Selinas

Kendrick Lamar: The 25-year-old rapper attracted huge crowds (though that could have
been in part because it was practically monsooning during his set). Within the first
30 seconds of “Backseat Freestyle” we saw an ambitious crowd-surfer being hoisted
in the air.

Recycling: This year’s festival featured a booth offering prizes such as a free pair
of green-and-white sunglasses in exchange for the promise to pick up a piece of trash
and refrain from littering. We love free stuff!

Front-row fans at Yeah Yeah Yeahs: The always-high-energy Karen O, sparkling from
her blue eyeshadow to her crystal-encrusted kicks, hopped into the pit during one
song to let fans lined up along the barricade take turns singing into the microphone
(to admittedly mixed results).

Lawn-goers: It started pouring halfway through the festival, turning the grounds into
a slippery, swampy, muddy mess. But those on the grass didn’t appear to mind—instead
they donned ponchos, held umbrellas, and continued to dance. We even saw an Instagram
of a tarp being turned into an impromptu slip-and-slide.

Gluten-Free Gwyneths

Phoenix: The French rockers were the last act to take the stage, and performed half
of the first song, “Entertainment,” sans vocals—Thomas Mars’s mike wasn’t hooked up.

Sweetgreen salads: Music fans love Sweetgreen’s festival—apparently more than its food.
While seemingly every other food station attracted long lines, we saw precious few
souls at the Sweetgreen station.

Underage drinkers: On our way in we saw two very sad-looking teenagers sitting on
the ground in front of two undercover policemen. Let that be a lesson to you, kids:
Save the $9 beers for the adults.

Passion Pit.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Kendrick Lamar.
Festival-goers dance in the mud.