The 26 Best Parts of the 2018 Hangout Music Fest

Hangout Music Festival is held in Gulf Shores, AL, right on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico. The festival takes its name from an iconic local restaurant called The Hangout, which sits smack dab inside the middle of the festival grounds. I enjoyed a surprisingly delicious dinner there while listening to Noname.

While Gulf Shores can get very hot, Hangout is held on the third week of May, when it's still reasonably pleasant. Highs were in the 80s at the 2018 festival, and you can find plenty of shady spots to cool off like Hammock Beach.

At the biggest stage, the Hangout Stage, the VIP area features beach chairs and swimming pools for comfortable viewing. The Super VIP area even has hot tubs. Fun fact: you can see me and my brother in this photo.

The pools sit atop sand hills covered in turf and feature floats and fountains to cool you off.

On Friday night, I arrived just in time to catch Portugal. The Man, who combine catchy pop melodies with a psychedelic rock vibe. The trippy on-stage visuals were interrupted by witty messages, such as: all the music is made by real instruments, not robots, and don't worry, we're about to play "that song" (aka "Feel It Still").

Many music festivals have morning yoga, but it's normally at an hour I prefer to still be sleeping. At Hangout, yoga was at 11:30 a.m. each day, which meant I actually got to enjoy the experience of doing yoga in a field on the beach with 200 people.

While every music festival has cool brand activities, the fun stuff at Hangout Fest has a strong beach vibe. The beach volleyball court was busy all weekend with some seriously skilled players.

In a magnificent homage to the pool-float trend, a meadow of enormous pool floats gave guests a photogenic place to lounge all weekend.

Here, the pool floats — including a rainbow unicorn — await lounging butts.

The festival offers several beach access areas, where you can cool off with a dip in the Gulf. This one featured a giant swing where people lined up to take photos.

It's hard to have a bad day when it ends with a beach sunset and silhouetted palm trees.

I like The Killers, but I'm hardly the world's biggest Killers fan. That said, everyone said they would be great live, and the Friday headliners did not disappoint. With a power drummer and a very nice-looking frontman, The Killers have what I need in a rock band. Also, would it be a music festival without a ferris wheel?

For the finale, frontman Brandon Flowers changed into a gold sequined suit (sadly, not pictured), and fireworks capped off the performance.

Near the Mermaid Stage, a bar shot out a wonderland of foam every hour or so. I did not indulge, but it was still fun to watch.

The Gulf Coast is famous for its sugar-white sand, which looks stunning, doesn't get too hot, and isn't as sticky as most sand.

Anderson .Paak played in the peak afternoon sun on Saturday, but the heat was no match for his cool, smooth vocals. This was one of my favorite shows of the festival and, judging by the crowd, I wasn't alone.

The high-energy singer and multi-instrumentalist performed from just about every corner of the stage — even behind the drum kit.

Most attendees stay at condos and hotels along the beach with air-conditioned shuttles running back and forth constantly.

On Sunday afternoon, SZA appeared like another ray of sunshine. Though she apologized in advance, saying she'd lost her voice the night before, her vocals still stunned. I also appreciated that she wore camo Field and Stream shorts in a nod to the Alabama setting.

Big Boi got the nighttime party started on Sunday evening with a crowd-pleasing set that had just about everyone singing along and dancing.

Another unusual destination at Hangout was the roller disco, where festival-goers could strap on roller skates and dance to classic roller rink hits.

I did not roller skate, but I did watch other people skate while I ate a grilled cheese. #nostalgia.

If, like me, you have a biological craving for a frozen alcoholic beverage immediately upon hitting the beach, you are in luck. Several bars and food stands sold frozen and/or fruity concoctions.

One of my favorite discoveries of Hangout was Michigan rock band Greta Van Fleet, who played on one of the smaller stages, where a huge crowd spilled into the surrounding areas. Thankfully, their guitars were loud enough to reach those of us on the outskirts.

The Hangout wedding chapel is mostly a place for friends and couples to get fake-married, but attendees can book the chapel ahead of time for real weddings. During the 2018 festival, at least five couples got (actually) married right on the beach.

And finally, puppies. Hangout Fest is the only festival I've ever attended that featured dogs. The Smooch a Pooch tent featured a photo booth with adorable, adoptable puppies.