Grizzly Fest '17 lineup draws thousands to Downtown Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Call it a concert, a festival or just huge party, but Grizzly Fest '17 brought thousands to Downtown Fresno and it did not disappoint.

"A lot of energy, a lot of great bands," visitor Thomas Cunningham exclaimed.

Cunningham was part of the massive crowd that took over the baseball field for the fourth year in a row, and he is a first-timer.

"I bought the tickets last year," he said. "There a mix of everything. There are families and adults just having a good time.

Some traveled hundreds of miles away to take in the musical acts, like E-40, Lupe Fiasco and Rebelution.

"Old school guys like E-40. It was a good time," Kevin Woodhams said.

"I really didn't think Fresno could do this something as big as this, with this many people, I didn't expect that,"

Angela Rolston of Sacramento said.

Event organizers spent months planning this year's Grizzly Fest, and they say because of last year's turnout they had a larger production budget which helped with adding more stages, extra lighting, and opening up the pool for VIPs.

Aaron Gomes says when he and his team came up with this idea a few years ago, they never imagined it would get this big.

"Having this happen now and bringing it to the Central Valley is something we want to see for us and now it's turning into a community dream," he said. "It's really cool."

And now their goal is to continue to grow it and make Fresno the place where people come to have fun.