Heat and rain fails to dampen fun at Faster Horses Festival

A swift-moving storm Saturday evening cancelled a performance by Dwight Yoakam and delayed Brad Paisley from performing at the third annual Faster Horses Festival 2015, as organizers had to send festival-goers back to their cars and campgrounds.But the storm didn’t rain on the attendees’ desire to enjoy the country music fest. Gates reopened at 10 p.m., after the storm had passed, with Brad Paisley hitting the stage around 11:35 that evening to a packed house of eager fans. An estimated crowd of nearly 40,000 attended this year’s festival at Michigan International Speedway (MIS); almost double the 23,000 that attended last year. Headliners included Carrie Underwood and Florida Georgia Line, while the Next From Nashville Stage played host to up-and-coming country musicians. Other performers included Justin Moore, Lonestar, Lee Brice, Thomas Rhett and many others. Michigan-born Frankie Ballard, who performed Sunday evening, had a little trouble with his denim jacket in the warm weather. He struggled to take it off, eventually tossing it back over his head and into the possession of a security guard near the stage. The security then tossed the jacket into the crowd. “The security guard just threw a $900 jacket into the crowd,” Ballard said. Eventually, Ballard got the jacket back. Rain Saturday morning delayed festivities as temperatures skirted the 90-degree mark over the festival’s three-day outing leading to numerous heat and alcohol related emergencies amongst festival-goers. Over the three-day event, Jackson Community Ambulance responded to 407 rescue calls, according to MLive. Calls on drunken guests, lacerations, allergic reactions, minor medical emergencies, and broken bones were responded to. Cambridge Township Police Chief Larry Wibbeler said six misdemeanor arrests were made including four or five for disorderly conduct and two assault and battery arrests, reported MLive. Festival-goers started to arrive Thursday, July 16, to set up camp and to start partying. Come Monday, as campers had to be out by noon, coolers, unopened bottles of alcohol, fire pits, lawn games and other festival gear left at MIS were collected by stragglers, people posting their finds on social media.