Earlier this week, DCist reminded you that the Kennedy Center would be handing out free tickets to its 10th anniversary shows — including a performance by indie heartthrob Sufjan Stevens — on Saturday morning. At the time, 2300 tickets seemed like a lot and we reassured you that “there should be plenty of opportunity for those interested to grab a ticket.” As it turns out, we here at DCist (along with just about everyone else) seem to have underestimated Mr. Stevens’s appeal just a wee bit.

Despite the cold temperatures, determined fans started lining up outside of the Kennedy Center as early as Friday morning. By the time we arrived on the scene, less than an hour before the tickets were handed out at 9 a.m., a line of thousands had already formed, running along two of the Center’s walls and leading into a snaking mass of hipsters in the courtyard. At about 9:25 a.m., Kennedy Center security started telling the folks in the courtyard that they weren’t going to get tickets and a mere five minutes later, all of the tickets were gone, leaving a number of fans — some still clutching their camping gear — out in the bitter cold. One security guard told us, “if you didn’t get here before the sun rose, you didn’t get a ticket.” Did you manage to somehow snag a pair? Camp out all night in vain? Willing to subsidize some jerk’s next beer tab by shelling out $300 for free tickets? Let us know in the comments.