The Xclamation Festival or X Fest is an annual festival that takes place on the streets of downtown Modesto, California

Modesto, California

Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....

 from 9th to 12th between J and H Streets, usually on the first Saturday in August. Begun in 2000 and organized by Chris Ricci Presents, the day is characterized by a Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras

The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...

 atmosphere, concert performances that go into the late evening hours, and a motto of "Good Times, Downtown." The festival features 50 bands on 8 stages over the course of 8 hours.

“(X Fest) is a little bit rock, a little bit hip hop, a little bit funk and all Modesto." Recent headlining bands include: Simple Plan

Simple Plan

Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...

, Mix Master Mike

Mix Master Mike

Mix Master Mike is an American turntablist and contributing member of the Beastie Boys.-Life and career:Born Michael Schwartz in San Francisco, California, Mix Master Mike is of German and Filipino descent. He first came to prominence upon winning the 1992 New Music Seminar/Supermen Inc...

, Blue October

Blue October

Blue October is a rock band from Houston, Texas. The band was formed in 1995 and currently consists of Justin Furstenfeld , Jeremy Furstenfeld , Ryan Delahoussaye , Matt Noveskey , and Julian Mandrake .-History:Blue October was formed by lead...

, DJ Dan

DJ Dan

DJ Dan is an American electronic house music DJ and producer. Dan previously released works through the Moonshine label....

, Pepper

Pepper (band)

Pepper is a rock band originally from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The band's music is often classified as a combination of reggae, dub and rock. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer Yesod Williams...

, Bad Boy Bill

Bad Boy Bill

Bad Boy Bill is a DJ from Chicago, Illinois, U.S.. He plays an assortment of house music.Bad Boy Bill began his DJ career in 1985 during the Chicago House music movement of the mid and late 80's working with Mike "Hitman" Wilson and Julian "Jumpin" Perez of the then WBMX dj mixing team known as...

, Candlebox

Candlebox

Candlebox is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their debut, the group has released four studio albums, which have achieved multi-platinum and gold certification, as well as numerous charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD....

, Blake Lewis

Blake Lewis

Blake Colin Lewis is an American singer-songwriter and beatboxer who was the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol. His major label debut album A.D.D. was released on December 4, 2007 through 19 Recordings/Arista Records. On October 30, 2007, his first single "Break Anotha" was released....

, Debbie Deb

Debbie Deb

Deborah Claire Wesoff - Kowalski, better known as Debbie Deb, is an American dance-pop singer, best known for 1980s freestyle dance songs such as "Lookout Weekend" and "When I Hear Music".-Biography:...

, The Expendables

The Expendables

-Musical career:Their music is a diverse mix of styles, including reggae, ska, surf rock, and punk rock. Members include Geoff Weers , Adam Patterson , Raul Bianchi and Ryan DeMars . The band was formed in 1997. In 2003 they had their own radio show, Locals Only, on radio station KMBY...

, N2Deep

N2Deep

N2Deep is a rap group from Vallejo, California best known for their 1992 hit single "Back to the Hotel."-Biography:Formed in 1989 in Vallejo, CA by Johnny Z , Jay Tee , and TL...

, Eve 6

Eve 6

Eve 6 is an American rock band from Southern California, who are most well known for their hit singles "Inside Out", "Leech", and the slow anthem "Here's to the Night". They disbanded in 2004, returned in 2007 with a new lineup, and finally reunited with all three original members in March 2011...

, Mother Hips, Digital Underground

Digital Underground

Digital Underground was an alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. It could have been considered a music "family" rather than a group, as its personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour....

, Y&T

Y&T

Y&T is an American hard rock/heavy metal band formed in 1974. They hail from Oakland, California...

, Joe Diffie

Joe Diffie

Joe Logan Diffie is an American country music singer known for his ballads and novelty songs. Between 1990 and 2004, Diffie charted 35 cuts on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including five number one singles: his debut release "Home", "If the Devil Danced ", "Third Rock from the Sun",...

, Pepper

Pepper (band)

Pepper is a rock band originally from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The band's music is often classified as a combination of reggae, dub and rock. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer Yesod Williams...

, Vanilla Ice

Vanilla Ice

Robert Matthew Van Winkle , best known by his stage name Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, extreme athlete and home improvement television personality...

, the Marshall Tucker Band

The Marshall Tucker Band

The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s...

, Foghat

Foghat

Foghat are a British rock band that had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," or boogie-rock dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records...

, and the Michael Schenker Group

Michael Schenker Group

The Michael Schenker Group is a guitar-oriented hard rock band formed in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist, Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenker Group, which lasted until 1992. After that, the Michael Schenker Group was reformed.The...

. Performers from previous years include Grandaddy

Grandaddy

Grandaddy was an American indie rock band, formed in 1992 in Modesto, California by singer, guitarist, and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia, and drummer Aaron Burtch. Guitarist Jim Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden later joined the band in 1995...

, Tone Loc

Tone Loc

Anthony Terrell Smith , better known by his stage name Tone Lōc, is an American rapper and actor.-Early life and career:...

, Berlin

Berlin (band)

Berlin is an American New Wave/Synthpop band. The group was formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by John Crawford . The band contained Crawford, Terri Nunn , David Diamond , Ric Olsen , Matt Reid and Rod Learned . Learned left during the first EU tour and was replaced by Rob Brill...

, Young MC

Young MC

Marvin Young , better known by his stage name Young MC, is an English-born American singer and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit "Bust a Move"...

, Pat Travers

Pat Travers

Patrick Henry "Pat" Travers is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career with Polydor Records in the mid-1970s...

, Fastball

Fastball (band)

Fastball is an American rock band that formed in Austin, Texas in the 1990s. The band originally called themselves "Magneto U.S.A." but changed their name after signing with Hollywood Records....

, The Busboys

The Busboys

The BusBoys are a musical group known for playing rock 'n' roll with a bar band, boogie woogie flavor.-Overview:Formed in Los Angeles in the late 1970s, the original lineup featured brothers Brian O'Neal and Kevin O'Neal , Gus Louderman , Mike Jones , Vic Johnson , and Steve Felix...

, Dazz Band

Dazz Band

The Dazz Band is an American funk music band that was most popular in the early 1980s. Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include the Grammy Award-winning "Let It Whip" , "Joystick" , and "Let It All Blow"...

, Rose Royce

Rose Royce

Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...

, Powerman 5000

Powerman 5000

Powerman 5000 is an American Metal band formed in 1991. Through the span of over two decades, the group has released several albums and gained their highest commercial success with 1999's science fiction themed Tonight the Stars Revolt!...

, Sir Mix A Lot, Blessid Union of Souls

Blessid Union of Souls

Blessid Union of Souls is an American rock band from Morrow, Ohio that was formed in 1990 by friends Jeff Pence and Eliot Sloan....

, and Montrose

Montrose (band)

Montrose was a California-based hard rock band. The band originally featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and future solo artist and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar...

.

The festival is 21 and over only, and has boasted crowds that average 15,000 people, the capacity limit set by the City of Modesto. The festival has been a source of controversy at times through its existence, with some city council members who said they supported downtown music but feared drinking at X-Fest was not worth the risk it presents to the city.