text: The crowd watches Kehlani’s energetic show. Photo by Melina Tupa
  
  The heat, thick and heavy. The sun, beating down hard. The air, sticky with the smell of fried food, pungent pot and end-of-summer sweat. It’s Labor Day, and thousands of people from the Bay Area and beyond have gathered in droves for hip-hop group Hieroglyphics’ 3rd annual Hiero Day­­­– a free music festival where dozens of bands perform in an effort to pull the community together through a celebration of artistic diversity. The streets are so packed with bodies moving and grooving about that some guests have climbed into windowsills of buildings, up trees, and are standing on the train tracks to get a glimpse of the performers on the street-stages erected outside Linden Street Brewery.
  
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summary: Hiero Day was developed in 2012 to celebrate the city and highlight some of the best elements Oakland has to offer; to support underground music, grassroots organizations and local businesses.