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While the weekend hit the highs of over 90 degrees, neither temperature nor humidity could hinder the positivity of the thousands who congregated to The Farm for the 2024 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

The estimated over 65,000 Bonnarovians, ranging from first timers to experienced attendees, traveled to Manchester and made camp Tuesday and Wednesday to set up their camps for the next four days of music, hot days and nights and positivity. It was not until Thursday where attendees passed through the landmark arch to take their first of many steps of CenterRoo.

Kicking off Bonnaroo that first included performances from Happy Landing, Róisín Murphy, Ocie Elliott, BIGXTHAPLUG, Geese, GWAR, It’s Murph, Matt Maltese, Say She She, The Heavy Heavy, The Foxies and more. Headlining Thursday night was Pretty Lights who performed two back-to-back sets at The What Stage. Those he was schedule for Thursday, it was announced by festival organizers Fisher had to pull out from the festival, however organizers announced producer/DJ Chris Lake would take the helm of Fisher’s slot early Friday morning.

Post Malone brings the fire Friday night

The good vibes continued into Friday as Gary Clark Jr., Khruangbin, Interpol, Vibez, 49 Winchester, Larkin Poe, Frayne, I Know a Woman, GROUPLOVE, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Maggie Rogers and more. Early on in her set, Rogers told the audience that Bonnaroo marked the first time she performed at the music festival, which has been a dream for her.

“This is the very first time I have ever played or been to this festival,” Rogers said. “I’ve been dreaming about it since I was 16.”

Across the field at the What Stage, Post Malone, backed by his band including a string trio, walked to the stage for the third time at Bonnaroo, with a red cup in hand, and brought the heat with a 20-song set, which featured hits like “Better Now,” “rockstar,” “Circles,” “Too Young,” “Congratulations,” “Sunflower,” “I Had Some Help,” “Chemical,” and more, while in between songs addressing the crowd with his thanks and love. Malone surprised attendees halfway through the show when he welcomed guitarist/bluegrass musician Billy Strings to perform an acoustic rendition of Malone’s “Stay.” Finishing the song, Malone said he thought Strings was the best guitar player on the planet, and having the opportunity to perform with him was a big moment.

Malone would later address the crowd about how recently the world seemed to be lacking love for one another. He would pause his speech as he took notice of members of the crowd asking for a medic. Once he got the OK he commented how the crowd looking out for one another at that moment was love.

“You are not alone, you are loved more than you can ever…know,” Malone said. “Never be scared to reach out and say, ‘Are you alright? Do you need a hug?’ It takes two seconds out of your day to be kind to someone.”

Malone also reflected on how he’s been performing for about 10 years and how much the support from his fans meant to him. His message to everyone to be both authentic and unapologetic versions of themselves, as they could be whoever they wanted to be.

“There’s no one on this planet who is cooler that who the f– you are,” he said.

The night was not over after Malone’s set as the energy continued throughout the with T-Pain bringing the wave of energy to the audience at the Which Stage in the early hours Saturday morning, along with performances from The Mars Volta, SVDDEN DEATH, Thundercat and more.

‘Chili Peppers, Cage the Elephant rock Saturday night

The positivity, and heat, continued Saturday with red hot performances from Brittany Howard, Cage the Elephant, Reneé Rapp, Ethel Cain, Jon Batiste, The Teskey Brothers, d4vd, Jive Talk, Ryan Beatty, Eli Winders, Tanner Usrey, Jobi Riccio, Cigarettes After Sex and so on. Also on Saturday was the traditional Bonnaroo Superjam, which features an overall theme and a variety of guests. This year was Dashboard Confessional’s Emo Superjam and it drew a large crowd as Chris Carrabba led the crowd through songs like “I Miss You” by Blink-182, “Misery Business” by Paramore, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise),” by My Chemical Romance, “Hands Down” by Dashboard Confessional and more with special guests Andrew McMahon, Anthony Green, Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade, Geoff Rickly of Thursday, Ian Grushka of New Found Glory, Medium Build, Mike Kinsella of American Football, Tim Kasher of Cursive, Trousdale and Yvette Young of Covet, along with other surprise appearances from artists performing at the festival.

Bonnaroovians weren’t the only ones feeling the heat as Cage the Elephant’s Matt Shultz commented on the heat, as he and the rest of the band brought the heat themselves thanks to both their performance and pyro.

“It’s almost unbearably hot, but I can bear for you guys,” Shultz said.

Following Cage the Elephant’s set, Saturday night’s headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers made their way to the What Stage, and the heat could not stop the band as they played through both crowd favorites like “By the Way,” “Californication,” and “Under the Bridge”, and their newer material from “Unlimited Love” and “Return of the Dream Canteen”. While this was the band’s third time headlining the festival. Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea told the crowd that the bad was grateful to be back at Bonnaroo, while at one point frontman Anthony Kiedis invited the crowd to “a little after party at the Waffle House in Manchester,” which he would extend an invite to Flea as well. The band continued to perform throughout the night with jams with Flea, guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith with small banter in between with Kiedis. After a brief intermission, the band returned to send off the crown with classic hits “Under the Bridge” and “Give it Away.” As the band made their exit, Smith spoke to the audience one last time.

“Thank you so much for coming tonight,” Smith said. “We love you all so much.”

The night wasn’t over yet as Melanie Martinez, Parcels, IDELS, Diplo and others performed for the rest of the night, including a third set from Pretty Lights at The Other Stage for a sunrise set from 3:30 to 5 a.m.

Rain delay couldn’t keep the vibes away

Both heat and positive energy carried on to Sunday as performances from Texas Hill, Jake Wesley Rogers, The Beaches, veggi, Milky Chance, Irreversible Entanglements and Chappel Roan, who was moved to The Which Stage earlier in the week, kicked off the final day of the festival. However, the festival was hit with a surprise thunderstorm at around 5:40 p.m. that caused performances from Carly Rae Jepsen, Amira Elkeky and other acts to be suspended until the storm passed. Festivities resumed at around 6:45 p.m. with most performances experiencing slight delays, while artists like Jepsen, Four Tent and others who had their performances stopped by the storm were canceled.

Despite the rain delay, the spirit of ‘Roo persevered as Two Friends, Amira Elkeky, Goth Babe, Galantis, Taking Back Sunday, Ashnikko, Megan Thee Stallion, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit and others made up for the lost time with their performances on the stage.

Closing out Bonnaroo at The What Stage was Fred again…, who was making his only U.S. festival performance in 2024. Following his fellow headliners throughout the weekend, Fred again… brought the energy to attendees one last time to end the festival on the note to radiate positivity, rain or sunshine.