Me, my fiance Dustin, and our good friend Nate all geared up and ready to take photos at the 28th annual Blues Fest. (Photo by Candy Boise)

This past weekend, I finally got to experience Blues Fest for the first time. While I didn't attend on Friday, I spent nearly the entire day at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, enjoying the music and taking hundreds of pictures.

My fiance Dustin and our friend Nate were taking videos of the festival, and I was there to get photos for the newspaper. We got to drive into the vendor area parking, and I was given my first ever press pass! It's such a simple thing, but I was thrilled. I was also suddenly struck with the realization that this was my first time covering a major local event.

Of course, I've covered 5K runs, the NBT Bank Summer Concert Series, fundraisers, and many other large and important events. But nothing seems to quite hold the weight that the annual Blues Fest does. I mean, people travel in from out of state for this thing. That's a big deal!

But, despite my nerves and although my visit to Blues Fest was work related, I still really enjoyed myself.

The day started out with scoping out vendors and snapping shots of the Horojo Trio (after some minor technical issues with my camera). Small groups of people gathered in front of the stage to dance, and camping chairs lined the field. After the year and a half we've had, it was awesome to see so many people out and enjoying themselves.

Toward the end of the set, I had to head over to the beer tent, provided this year by Rita's Tavern. I used to bartend at Rita's, so I had agreed to sling some drinks at Blues Fest for a few hours. I was pretty nervous though! I've never worked at a festival, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

While the beer tent was busy of course, the festival goers were all incredibly friendly and kind. Several of them even told us what a great job we were doing. I also really enjoyed being able to work with the Rita's crew again, and I think we did an awesome job staying on top of things.

The rest of my day was spent snapping more pictures. I was able to catch performances by Zac Harmon, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and Albert Castiglia. With some help from the good people of the Chenango Blues Association, I was even able to get up on the stage for a few minutes to snap photos of "Mr. Kingfish" as I've come to think of him.

Granted, I was off on the side stage, plenty of feet away from the performers and out of sight of spectators. Still though, I could not get over how cool it was to be up there. It was definitely the highlight of my day.

After my thrilling adventures on stage, I returned to the "pit" in front of the stage with my fellow photographers. Another awesome part of my day, I got to work all day with my fiance! Of course, we were there for two different reasons, but I loved getting to spend the day side by side doing what we love.

And of course, he couldn't help but poke fun at me later! He told me he could hear the rapid-fire "click-click-click" of my camera shutter, and that I was going to have a lot of fun going through those later. For those wondering, I ended the day with 765 pictures!

Eventually, the sun went down, and I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It took several laps around the food trucks before I could decide on something, but I finally went with Hick's Pit, a barbecue joint based in Sherburne. And let me tell you, I made the right call.

The pulled pork sandwich was delicious, but what really got my attention was their smoked macaroni and cheese. Holy cow! Hands down the best mac and cheese I've ever tasted. I don't know how they get the smoky flavor in there, but it's a miracle. If you find yourself in Sherburne, I highly recommend giving them a try.

One extremely slight disappointment: there were no beer coozies this year! This is by no means the end of the world, but my fiance and mother in law attend the Blues Fest every year, and are always sure to buy a coozie. I was hoping to get one myself to commemorate my first, although definitely not last, year at the Blues Fest.

However, this was slightly rectified when I went up to the merchandise tent. I was browsing the T-shirts and hoodies when a caught glimpse of beer coozies stacked on the table! Granted, they were not Blues Fest coozies, but hey, it's better than nothing, and I'm certain I'll never forget where they came from or why I bought them in the first place.

I left the tent with a cozy Blues Fest hoodie, a handful of beer coozies with a logo I didn't recognize, and no regrets.

By the end of the night, I had been at the festival for nearly twelve hours. My feet were killing me, I was sunburnt, and just plain exhausted. Basically, I felt exactly how you should after a festival!

Despite being more than ready to collapse onto my bed and sleep, I couldn't help but reflect on the day. For an event this large, I expected there to be more, I don't know, issues I guess? Something to go wrong?

I was blown away by the positivity of everyone there. People were kind and friendly, the bands were amazing and seemed happy to be there. The volunteers and Blues Association officials I spoke to were all extremely nice. The fairgrounds seemed to be permeated with this infectious happiness; it was simply impossible to have a bad time while you were there.

This was my first time experiencing everything the Chenango Blues Fest has to offer, and it far exceeded my expectations. I could not have enjoyed myself more, and I can't wait to return next year.