University College freshman Colin Layne volunteered for an unusual duty that he couldn’t have anticipated at Norman Music Festival this weekend.

“This is the way to keep the masses from violating the fire code,” he said while holding hands with two other festival volunteers outside of the Opolis on the sunny Sunday afternoon.

The three workers raised their arms up and down together to control traffic flow through the small-capacity venue to maintain accordance with the city’s fire code.

“I saw one song of Octopus Project last night before they got shut down,” said Colourmusic drummer Nick Ley.

“They kicked everybody out afterward.” Ley said of his band’s set, which finished just before that of the highly-sought Austin indie band’s was interrupted. “It hit capacity and the fire marshal came.”

Event organizers estimated a record turnout for the third-annual festival, which expanded this year to two full days.

“Last night I was hoping that we would have 10,000 people in the downtown area on foot and I really feel like we exceeded that,” said Quentin Bomgardner, festival committee chairman of the Norman Arts Council.

Fundraising Chairman Kevin Fowler made a similar statement about festival attendance.

“It’s been way more than we expected by far,” Fowler said.

Festival-going traffic steadily increased throughout the day, from a respectable flow early on — thanks largely to the wares and knickknacks on sale at the Dustbowl Market — into a plodding human roar by the time Detroit-based Electric Six blasted its demented dance rock at 8 p.m.

Sound struggles plagued the main stage initially, delaying Gentle Ghost from its noon set time. Boston rappers Edan and Dagha fought through the setback, resorting to share a microphone for part of their performance nearly five hours later.

“Yo, we havin’ technical difficulties but that ain’t gonna stop us,” Edan said before delighting the crowd with an a capella verse.

Vocal-less Oklahoma City band The Non assembled the Cloud Collision Orchestra to aid the band in its early evening set that closed out Sooner Theatre for the weekend, a show attended by none other than Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne. A mesmerizing crew of performers, the band closed its set with “Tofu Fire” and a choral verse from the backing orchestra. Unmistakable in his signature rumpled gray suit and matching frizzy hair, the grinning Coyne joined the applause for The Non in a standing ovation from the crowd.

Despite high attendance and an open alcohol policy, Fowler said the Norman police were pleased with crowd behavior at this year’s festival.

“It’s safer than a game day is the impression I’ve been getting,” Fowler said.

Bomgardner said the city always goes above and beyond.

“When they have problems with something that we’re doing, it’s with our best interest in mind, to make it safe and legal and fun,” Bomgardner said.