LIVINGSTON - The Rock the Country festival returned to the capital region this weekend, albeit in a different parish.

In 2024, the festival was held at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. This year, the event was hosted in Livingston at the parish fairgrounds. Sunday morning after the festival wrapped up, the last of the attendees were leaving the party.

Because of rain in the capital region late Saturday and early Sunday, getting the RVs out was a muddy endeavor. Star and Angie Raffield brought their RV to the festival and said they were lucky to get out in less than 30 minutes because multiple vehicles were stuck in the mud.

"I wanna shout out, they got some good Samaritans over there. They're running around in four-wheel drive, just pulling people out and refusing money. And they said they're having the best time today. Pulling people the whole weekend," Star Raffield said.

The Raffields were there for the weekend and are repeat attenders. They say that the change of venue made for additional complications.

"With all of that and pricing, I'd say about a seven or eight out of ten. It wasn't the same as it was last year," Star said.

"The pricing is higher. (Last year was) Quicker and more organized. They had it laid out a lot better," Angie Raffield said.

One of the most common complaints people had was traffic. One family who lived near the fairgrounds said they prepared as if a hurricane was coming.

"We got our food and groceries early in the neighborhood. We knew we would. We didn't know what to expect with the traffic. We were preparing, and sure enough, about 11 o'clock, the road started backing up, and really it stayed that way until about 11 p.m," resident Meagan Cotten said.

One thing that everyone agreed on was the music was top-notch. Attendee Lana Nutent came to the festival to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and said they sounded great. She gave the entire festival an eight out of ten and only had one complaint - the layout. 

"Just because of the way that was sitting with the chairs, and the blankets and the way that the venue was laid out, I think they could've done better with that," she said.

While they all said Friday night was rough, Saturday was much smoother.

"Traffic was flowing throughout the day. Our neighbors put on, they were cooking. They had their side-by-sides transporting people. It was really like we had our own little event," Cotten said.

People were happy that the festival listened to their online feedback. A common complaint online was that the festival food was too expensive and organizers adjusted the prices to make it a bit more affordable. According to a social media posts by attendees, burgers were close to $20 and a 20-pound bag of ice was around $13.