With more than 100 bands performing at 16 venues, the fifth annual Carrboro Music Festival sent tunes and melodies across the streets of downtown Carrboro on Sunday afternoon.
The festival attracted several thousand local residents, most of whom clustered around the outdoor stages set up beside local businesses such as Crazie Mae's or the Armadillo Grill.
But the center of pedestrian traffic was the Weaver Street Market lawn, where a lineup of folk, country and roots-rock bands performed.
At 4:30 p.m., dancing children filled the square, cavorting to the twangy pop of Brown Mountain Lights while couples picnicked on the grass. Behind the stage, a young child strummed along with the band on his toy guitar.
Brown Mountain Lights singer Janet Place said the atmosphere helped make her band's show the best set of her life.
"It's so great playing for this kind of audience," said Place, who performed for free along with all the festival's musical acts. "There are families and couples who have been here all day."
Place also was one of eight staff members who organized the festival and has been involved with the event since its inception. She said the festival is sponsored by the town of Carrboro but funded primarily through the sponsorship of local businesses.
Place said the decision to move this year's festival date from June to September has made it the most widely attended one yet.
"The weather is so much better, and there's more people this year," she said. "It just seems less stressful when we don't have to worry about bands frying up on stage."
