HONESDALE, PA — Although it had been planned as a rain-or-shine event, an uncertain forecast hung over the Roots & Rhythm Festival; after a steady downpour in the early hours of the morning, the skies were left with the lingering threat of dark clouds on the horizon. Volunteers and concertgoers were prepared for any turn in the weather—the tents were up and umbrellas were at the ready—but in a stroke of perfect timing, Honesdale’s Central Park was hit only with a brief drizzle between the first two sets on the festival bill, giving way to a pleasant sunshine that lasted through the rest of the day. Patrons were free to wander the park to find food and art vendors, buy tickets for the raffle giveaway and, of course, enjoy this year’s lineup: contemporary blues group the Bruce Katz Band, rock and blues band Thomas Wynn & the Believers, country-pop trio No Good Sister and the headliner, roots rock band Larkin Poe.

In welcoming patrons to this year’s festival, the emcee, news anchor Jim Hamill of WNEP, was joined by State Representative Jonathan Fritz, who called the event “Americana at its finest.”

“There are occasions, special occasions, where small towns come alive,” Fritz told The River Reporter. “And today what we have is the universal language, music, being shared with all of our neighbors. It’s a special time, it’s a special moment, it’s a celebration of summertime—it’s a celebration of community and a lot of the things that are really good and rewarding about living in a small town.”

A great deal of thought goes into the preparation of the festival, from booths to vendors to the grounds themselves; proper waste disposal has proven integral to the experience. All around the park, groups of clearly labeled trash, compost and recycling bins were flanked by volunteers, ready to help the crowd learn what trash to throw where. “We’ve been working really hard to reach zero-waste,” said Cheryl Badner, co-founder of Corporate Waste Consultants in Greentown, PA.

“Roots & Rhythm started recycling in 2010. Before 2010… there were no options for food waste collection, there were no options for recycling or composting. So in the last eight years we’ve worked toward this event, where we’re now considered zero-waste… what we have done is evolved where—just to give you an idea—last year, at the end of the event, there were only 360 pounds of trash, as compared to over 4,000 in 2010.”

That sort of dedicated awareness has certainly contributed to a unique atmosphere. Bruce Katz, who has also played keyboards for the Gregg Allman Band, remarked that the festival represented a “bigger cross-section” than the blues festivals at which he often plays. “There’s kids and all ages,” he said. “It’s kind of cooler in some ways—it’s not like only Allman Brothers fans or only blues fans. So it’s fun to play for people that are definitely not going to come out to the club.”

“We play a lot of outdoor festivals in the summer; they’re some of our absolute favorite shows,” says Meaghan Kyle of No Good Sister. “This is my favorite way to listen to music: sitting in a lawn chair, outside, in a small town, preferably, with a nice stage—so these are some of our favorite shows to play.”

“The hospitality’s been top-notch,” Kyle’s bandmate, Jess McDowell, said. “We don’t always get that. We’ve been treated very lovely here. And also, just the audience itself—it’s the most polite large group of people I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The politeness reflects a deep enjoyment that promises to maintain a steady audience for future festivals. “We’ve been coming for five years, six years now,” said Chris Murray of Moscow, PA. “We come every year now… It’s fun, it’s free and the food’s good. We live in Moscow, but we have a campsite up at Ponderosa Pines… and it’s something to do on a Saturday afternoon while we’re up at the campground… We come to Honesdale quite often, probably five or six times a year while we’re camping, we’ll come down to the town, walk around and shop and do whatever. I don’t know how many events they have in this park here during the summer, but this is a big one. Came the first year that we heard about it and loved it; and [we’ve] come every year since.”