With its voodoo shops, historic cemeteries, and haunted mansions, there’s no better place to experience Halloween than New Orleans—and no better way to do it than at the Voodoo Music Festival. Now in its fifth year, Voodoo offers a weekend-long, eclectic lineup with acts as diverse as C. Set in one of New Orleans’s most enchanting parks, Voodoo attracted 80,000 “worshippers” last year in a one-day event. This year organizers expanded Voodoo to three days, granting them free license to call themselves a true festival complete with beer, T-shirts, and fried food.

Some attendees were at the park to be seen, but most people showed up for the outstanding and diverse music. Each stage drew large crowds for almost every act, swaying to the beat and creating the ever-ubiquitous mosh pit. The PlayStation2 Dance Tent was jam-packed with pulsing dancers and DJs whose mixes and transitions made the crowd literally squeal with delight. You couldn’t help but feel in the middle of the rave until you walked out of the tent and heard roaring crowds over loud guitar cords at the next stage. The energy continued as you walked past other revelers eagerly making their way to the next act.

Favorites were Ludacris, Marilyn Manson with his high-drama antics, and Bad Boy Bill’s sultry yet thumping beats. The biggest disappointment of this year’s festival was a late cancellation by The Donnas. The White Stripes made up for it by bringing together the hippies, punks, goths, rockabillies, skaters, and even the frat crowd to bop their heads to their impressive yet basic drums and guitar. Some said The White Stripes lost the crowd by the end, but it was the last act after three days of partying—who can stay on for that long? Even as you walk away from the fest, you feel the beat in your body drawing you to worship the music just a little longer and heck, have one more po’ boy for the road.