This past weekend, Charleston hosted a slew of indie artists and bands for the 3rd annual High Water Festival at North Charleston’s Riverfront Park. Some of the headliners were Leon Bridges, Lord Huron, Dr. Dog, and The Head and The Heart. Of course, I really wanted to take advantage of the fact that these amazing artists would be in town, but was deterred, to say the least, by the $150 price tag. Luckily for me, High Water Fest offers a plethora of opportunities to earn your ticket in lieu of buying it.

As it turns out, you can volunteer for your tickets–ahead of time or during the actual festival. For example, in the weeks prior to High Water Fest, you could spend a couple hours after school working in community gardens with the Green Heart Project to earn your ticket. Or, if you want to volunteer during the festival, you can work with Second Chance Bikes moving bikes to and from the Riverfront Park. A bonus of earning your ticket is that, of course, those volunteer hours count towards your required community service as a Magnet student. So it’s really a win-win. One thing you should be warned of, though, is that these ‘earn your ticket’ opportunities go FAST. This year, High Water Fest was out of spots for volunteers just a couple hours after they let people start signing up.

I actually volunteered with Fischer Recycling because I was a little late to the game and they happened to still be in need of people, so many other Magnet students also took advantage of this volunteer opportunity. I wouldn’t say that picking up trash all day is “fun”, but, for me at least, it was definitely worth it to listen to the music for free. Also, it was pretty cool to spend time backstage and see all of the artist’s tents and where they where hanging out. Hallie Cole, who also volunteered said that she respects the Fischer family and their company for their work, “because they put a lot of effort into events like those. Also, they are genuinely trying to help the environment by helping events switch to not plastic items.”

My favorite performance, as I had expected, was The Head and The Heart. Though they’re best known for Rivers and Roads, which is a go-to sad song for lots of people, their discography is actually very diverse in terms of mood. Some of my favorites by them are Shake, All We Ever Knew, Down in the Valley, Lost in My Mind, Let’s Be Still, Library Magic, and Honeybee, which is a single from their upcoming album, Living Mirage (out on May 17th!).