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While it was the free music and beautiful weather that attracted most of the crowd to the Takoma Park Street Festival Sunday, the coalition of local businesses that organized the event hopes the festival will have a more lasting effect on the area: an upturn in business.

Thousands packed Takoma's Old Town from the intersection of Carroll and Willow avenues all the way up Carroll almost to Philadelphia Avenue, making this year's the biggest festival since it began 28 years ago. Shop stalls featuring local merchants and stores lined the sidewalk on all sides, and three stages divided the event into distinct areas for live music fans and dancers.

Unlike the city's folk festival, which was founded by volunteers in 1978 to support the Takoma Theatre, the Takoma Park Street Festival was designed specifically to draw shoppers into Old Town by its original founders, the small, mostly independent local businesses in Old Town.

"It's a showcase of Takoma Park, business-wise," said lead music organizer David Eisner. "It's the largest open-air festival located in one of the city's business districts."

Among the crowd were city residents and visitors from the surrounding metropolitan area – and elsewhere—mingling near stages and enjoying the gentle weather and upbeat music.

Heather Sutcliffe, who lives in Old Town, drifted away from the group of friends she came with to sift through beaded necklaces for sale at the Tranquil Soul, an "eco-boutique" that set up a stall on Carroll around the corner from its storefront location on Westmoreland Avenue.

"I have to admit – and it sounds kind of corny – but I come down to get caught up with my friends and neighbors," Sutcliffe said of the Street Festival. "It becomes a community gathering place where you can look around and see people you may have been too busy to hang out with [recently]."

Sutcliffe also praised the festival's ability to draw a wider range of customers to the city. While the event certainly is a welcome addition to her calendar, she believes it is more of a call to outsiders to join the fun that is Takoma Park.

"This brings people in from outside Takoma, from Silver Spring and the surrounding areas, so they can come here and say, ‘hey, I know about that store, but I'd forgotten; let me go back.'"

Tally Groves was in town from Vermont to celebrate a friend's birthday. As a frequent visitor to the city, Groves has always liked the shops in Old Town – especially the jewelry and antiques stores – but has never attended the festival before.

"I like it a lot; the music, the food from so many different cultures and the jewelry and crafts, everything," she said. "I like Takoma Park; it has such a nice, intimate feeling for being so close to D.C."

Even in light of the big boost the festival can lend to area businesses, most of the event's draw comes from the music and spectacle, coupled with Takoma Park's reputation as a quirky, family-oriented city, according to Eisner, who has owned the House of Musical Traditions in the city for the last 37 years.

"It's essentially a day of good music and fun for Takoma Park," he said during a break from running the Gazebo Stage's sound system. "It's a showcase for our businesses, but it's also an opportunity for us to showcase our talented local bands and performers."

Meanwhile Jennifer Finney, who owns the Tranquil Soul, stood smiling beneath the shade of her stall, occasionally peering around the corner or tilting her head to hear the music from the nearby Gazebo Stage.

"There are all sorts of stores that are not in the thick of the ‘town square,' and I think we all benefit from events like this that bring people to us," she said. "Plus, there's free music, how can you beat that?"