Harriet Island was transformed into a house of music Friday and Saturday, attracting an estimated 60,000 enthusiastic rock ‘n roll fans.

“Alanis Morissette was amazing, Gwen Stefani was amazing,” exclaimed Dustin Thill, from drove from Green Bay. “Nice weather, we had no complaints.”  

The inaugural Minnesota Yacht Club Festival got some big kudos from music lovers.

Chopper 5 revealing the true size of the crowd — a sea of people.  

“It’s overwhelming at first, but then you get used to it,” said Brooke Bline, from Sioux City, Iowa. “It’s really fun.”

From Gen-Z to millennials… some with their kids in tow, said they were having a great time.

“Chili Peppers and the Offspring,” smiled Amanda Welder, who drove from Bismarck, North Dakota. “We love concerts.”

But the festival almost didn’t go on.

That’s because the Mississippi River rose to 20 feet in early July from heavy spring rains.

Much of the venue was underwater — the eighth-highest crest ever in St. Paul.

“I was very apprehensive that it was going to go on two weeks ago,” noted Trevor Olson from Andover. “The floodwaters were basically up to the bottom of the window. Actually, I came out and scouted last Friday as to where we were going to park and stuff.”

But that was then, and this is now.

The river dropped 11 feet in two weeks.

Festival goers say the turf in viewing areas was perfectly dry.

“This was really nice,” Welder said. “The lines were short, the bathrooms were organized, the crowd was good, everything was great.”

Bline brought alone her 5-year-old daughter Winter.

It was her very first concert.  

“We went to Lollapalooza one year, and so every year, she’s been asking to go,” Bline explained.

So… is all this like the state fair, or maybe Woodstock?

“I’d say a mixture of both because it’s really Minnesota nice,” she said. “Everybody’s very polite and cool. I don’t know, a good time so far.”

The city says hotels in downtown St. Paul were booked solid, and bars and restaurants were busy.

Already, organizers are taking about doing this next year.