SHAMOKIN - While gusty winds may wreaked havoc with some tents, it was the patrons and vendors who were blown away by the success of the eighth annual Anthracite Heritage Festival of the Arts.
With new and old vendors lined up on Market Street, transportation by train, trolley or horse-drawn carriage, and so much to see and do, the crowds braved 60-degree temperatures and cloudy skies to see what this year's festival had to offer.
"This was my favorite festival to plan, and it's going very well," said festival organizer Jeanne Shaffer, director of the Northumberland County Council for the Arts and Humanities.
With the tie-ins to F&S Beer and much more, Shaffer said there was more anticipation for this year's festival than any other, and it didn't disappoint.
One thing that many people visited the festival for was their official F&S festival T-shirt. Nancy McBride was among the many who picked one up.
"My dad used to love drinking F&S, so when I hear the name, it makes me think of my dad," McBride said as she held hers up to look at.
Another hot item at the NCCAH stand was the painted bricks, done by local artists and sold for the benefit of the arts council.
The bricks were donated from a local demolition company and taken from several homes and buildings in Shamokin that are no longer standing.
The artists then painted their designs on the bricks and sold them as door stops.
"We've sold about half our quantity today, about 30 of them," Shaffer said.
Another popular exhibit was Folk's Butterfly Farm, a butterfly feeding house that was a popular addition to the festival.
With a cotton swab that Folk called a "gatorade lollipop," patrons entered the mesh tents, seeing hundreds of butterflies above them and on the walls.
After placing the swab on the butterfly's front feet, where their taste buds are, many could lift off the butterflies and examine them on the makeshift perch.
"This is super-cool," said Susan Conley, of Strong, visiting the tent with her daughter and grandchildren. "The butterflies like my hand more than the feeding stick."
Another vendor enjoying his first time at the festival was John Warren, owner of Country Brooms, a maker of handmade brooms from Gilbertsville.
"I am very impressed with the nice flow of people that this festival gets here," Warren said. "Everyone here is very appreciative of homemade crafts and have been very knowledgeable about what they like.
Warren told several patrons that he was enjoying himself at the festival.
"We are going to try to be here next year," Warren told one. "We are having so much fun."
Whether they were learning about the past at the Shamokin Cemetery, enjoying the rhythms of a West African drum ensemble or dancing the polka to the sounds of Stanky and the Coal Miners, everyone seemed to enjoy this year's festival and were ready to mark their calendars for May 23 and 24, 2014, for the ninth annual festival.
"I come back every year," McBride said. "There is always something new to see and do here, and I love that."