KNOEBELS AMUSEMENT RESORT -- Hundreds of people walked through Knoebels Amusement Resort, stopping to look at crafts and decorations along the way. This is the first day of the 37th annual Covered Bridge Festival.
"The rides, the people, everything I like," Rita Michaels said.
There are more than 400 food and craft vendors at the Covered Bridge Festival. It is run by the Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau. Organizers expect about 150,000 people to attend the four-day event.
"Neat little things like an agritourism area. It's a wonderful opportunity to really bring people together in our region," Stacy Ososkie said.
The four-day festival includes tours of the area's covered bridges. Rides at Knoebels are open too. But people tell Newswatch 16 they mostly come for the crafts.
"My house is so full now I don't really need any more but I like to look anyway," Jean Numeister said.
"We usually do pretty good here. My wife likes to see everybody smile. When everybody comes by here they smile," Michael Coyle said.
In addition to all the craft vendors, there are nearly 40 food vendors here at the Covered Bridge Festival. People we spoke with said they want to try everything.
"Well we had pizza, tiramisu, potato cakes, rice pudding," Numeister said.
"The food is delicious. We're going for kielbasa sandwiches now. We're taking them home to Nanticoke," Michaels said.
The Covered Bridge Festival runs through Sunday at Knoebels Amusement Resort near Elysburg. Admission and parking are free.