The Chaco Z The World Tour is a summer-long trip with stops at some of the country’s biggest and best outdoor music festivals and events. At each stop a guest blogger will be taking pictures and sharing stories. This week’s guest blogger is Berne Broudy of Authentic Outdoors. Follow the tour on Snapchat for live updates and keep scrolling for Berne’s rundown of Boston Calling.

Most music festivals are sequestered far away from downtown, but Boston Calling places itself right in the heart of the city, giving it a different vibe than most other gatherings. The city and the festival are intertwined, each feeding off the other’s energy. Almost 20,000 fans came to hear up to 24 hours of music over three days, including some of the top national acts like Sia and Odesza. Spanning from bluesy funk, soulful country-tinged R&B, rap and rock there was something for every musical taste. And because the festival was a noon to 11PM affair, there was plenty of time to explore and still make your favorite shows.

Inside, the plaza is pavement, but that didn’t stop participants from throwing down a beach blanket and relaxing with friends, though Boston Calling Beach was the most popular hang out when people needed to escape the heat, have a moment of relative quiet, or play oversized lawn games like giant Jenga and Connect Four.

Since the festival is right downtown, you can also leave for some city time and come back. We brought townie bikes from home so we could cruise the cycle-friendly city. We pedaled along the Charles River, and we saw that the city is full of outdoor lovers. We passed runners, cyclists, walkers, tons of locals playing and exercising, both kids and adults. There were huge numbers of sailboats on the Charles, and many kayaks cruising up and down the shore. Boston itself is not on a grid it’s not on a grid. Streets wiggle and wriggle through the city. It gives the city a warm and charming feel, and makes it extra fun for cyclists.

Back at the venue, we met new artists who we weren’t familiar with, including Christine and the Queens and Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires. The third stage, which was all local music and comedy, was a secret spot for seeing amazing acts. While the two main stages had crowds lining up an hour before the act they wanted to see come on, we were in the front row for Lady Pills and The Nemes, two of our favorite local finds, even though we got there just as they were starting.

Featured Styles: Men’s Outcross 1, Women’s Z/2 Classic