Cheers to Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for not only a successful twelfth year and counting, but for earning the reputation of being one of the best and biggest festivals in the country. Events like and to the degree of Bonnaroo can be credited with adding rich beauty, spirit and character to the American culture—not mainstream pop culture alone, but the extensive American culture encompassing widespread music and art.

Bonnaroo earns this praise because it gives people what people want from a festival: major artists, diversity in genres of music, diverse forms of entertainment, and organization. The four-day event is well-planned, on-schedule and absolutely jam-packed with performances and attractions.

To cater to the music realm, the Bonnaroo festival grounds have two main stages and three main tents set up, all of which are spaced out enough and angled just right to blast music simultaneously without interference. But then there’s also four other locations holding even more live performances. If it’s your dig, the Silent Disco is also an option.

Bonnaroo is a Music and Arts Festival rather than a music festival and the arts were duly represented. Comedy is a particular highlight at the festival. The Comedy Theatre was alive every day during prime festival time. This year’s featured comedians were Daniel Tosh and the set Comedy Bang! Bang! with Scott Aukerman and Reggie Watts. The Bonnaroo Cinema, another attraction, barely sleeps from Thursday to Sunday and serves as a treat to motion-picture lovers of all types.

While musical performances started each day at noon and as late as 2:30 a.m., early-bird hours were reserved for other forms of art. Think interaction and education. Go to Bonnaroo and as early as 9 a.m. you can partake in lots and lots of yoga, watch a theatrical live performance, or attend an array of workshops. A Bonnarooan has the opportunity through these workshops to learn about things such as dancing and body movement, gardening, poetry reading, camping tips, and other interest areas. If Bonnaroo doesn’t add to the representation of American culture it at the least reflects the bounty of choices the American culture offers.

For a music fan attending the festival, the only stress (Ha—stress at Bonnaroo.) of the four-day party is deciding what and who is deemed most important to you as the attendee. Do you want to see three partial performances or two full performances? Can you sacrifice seeing a good band to snag a decent spot for an even-better band? Are you willing to pay seven dollars for a Miller High Life or just stick with water?

For the most part, bands that were playing during the same hour on different stages were of different persuasions. Different types of listeners will choose to go to either The XX, ZZ Top or Wolfgang Gartner (The XX was beautiful by the way—as beautiful and clean as their recordings.). On the other hand, the headliners for each night were given slots of understandable isolation: Paul McCartney, would-have-been Mumford and Sons, and Tom Petty. Collectively, these three A-list performances are nearly worth the cost of the whole festival ticket.

What can I say about Paul McCartney’s performance? It was anything and everything you’d imagine from Paul McCartney and much more than you’d expect from any 70 year-old rock stars. Even the stage—on an acreage in the middle of Tennessee—mustered up more than you might think possible, complete with full-on fireworks during “Live and Let Die.”

These guys played for three hours—from nine until midnight. This includes a triple encore. The band didn’t lull, slow, or exhaust. On multiple occasions when the audience thought the performance was wrapping up,the band pulled out more energy and will to keep charging through a ceaselessly entertaining set.  The band seemed to radiate genuine enthusiasm despite the fact that McCartney has been playing some of these songs for about five decades now.

Perhaps one of the most notable aspects of Sir McCartney’s grand performance was the way the set list peppered in so smoothly Beatles songs, Wings songs, and Paul McCartney songs. The whole set completely satisfied hopes of fans of The Beatles as well as of Wings but also made ample room for the likely lesser-known and/or lesser-loved Paul McCartney songs without making them too much of a focus of the show. The band knew exactly what the audience wanted. They were smart to open with “Eight Days a Week.” Everyone sang along. They closed with “Hey Jude.” Every single person sang along and it was beautiful. Then they went into three encores. Then many people felt that their lives were suddenly more complete.

The Lumineers serenaded their alarmingly large, compact, and attentive crowd on Saturday night. The band played passionately and infected the air with romantic vibes. Best was the moment in which the band physically ventured into the middle of the crowd and continued to perform live a few songs among the delighted fans in order to “recreate the feeling of intimacy” that they usually get from playing for much, much smaller audiences.

The Lumineers’ set would have bled epically into Mumford and Sons’ set, but it nonetheless transitioned smoothly and appropriately into Jack Johnson’s instead. Johnson became the last minute replacement for headlining Mumford and Sons due to the unfortunate hospitalization of Mumford’s bassist, Ted Dwane. Mumford fans at Bonnaroo were disappointed to miss out on the anticipated performance of the band at the festival, but seemed to handle the situation with grace and respect. After The Lumineers’ performance, the mass of people were hypnotized into a peaceful and happy daze and they herded calmly to Jack Johnson.

There’s peace in enjoying live music and the peace produces the feeling of contentment. Repeating and stacking this peace and contentment causes the fulfillment and elation I was feeling Saturday night after The Lumineers. And so, I ended my trip in this state. Bonnaroo lasted much longer than I was able to be there for, unfortunately. But I wouldn’t change who I chose to see while I was there: on one day I saw part of Local Natives, part of Of Monsters and Men, all of Glen Hansard, all of Foals (total rockstars by the way), all of Wilco, all of Paul McCartney, and most of The XX.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were likely a treat on Sunday. Other delicious musical acts from Sunday include Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The National, Divine Fits, Kendrick Lamar and Tame Impala. Even more musical acts worth mentioning from the whole four days include Bjork, R. Kelly, Wu Tang Clan, Billy Idol, Weird Al, Portugal. The Man, Django Django, Cat Power and Beach House.

The bag I carried during my days at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival still smells like the dirt and air of the crazy, strange, wonderful piece of land that is the Bonnaroovian experience. The smell—like the writing of this article—makes me miss and yearn to relive the festival all over again and slower, too, if that were possible. Recalling the senses my senses never before had sensed pushes me to be determined to attend Bonnaroo 2014.

If you can find a way, join the party and the once-in-a-lifetime (or, okay, the once-in-a-year) experience that is Bonnaroo. You won’t regret it. But then again, the feeling of regret is a foreign and forgotten one in the world of Bonnaroo.