Kamala Shadd of Butler smiles during her face paint transformation into a butterfly at last year's Butler Fall Festival. Doing the painting is Jon DeWitt of Saltsburg.

Saturday officially will be the last day of summer.

To celebrate the changing of the seasons, thousands of people are expected downtown for the 35th annual Butler Fall Festival.

The festival will begin at 11 a.m. and will feature food, vendors, and live entertainment through 5 p.m.

The number of vendors this year is higher than at the festival last year.

“There will be a little over 100 vendors this year,” said Beverly Montag, the head organizer of craft vendors. “We will have wood crafters, jewelry items, pet items, bake sales, local business information, school and college information, and much more.”

Various arts and crafts will be on display, including paintings, cooking, and sewing.

Montag said there will be plenty for children to do as well, making the festival fun for all ages.

“Home Depot will be there to do a small wooden craft with the younger children,” she said. “We will also have a racetrack where the children can purchase a car and race against others.”

Adults will be able to have fun with cars too.

The Rodfathers Motorsports Club of Butler will once again line up classic cars on Main Street. The club's cars have been a popular attraction at the festival in recent years.

Another popular returning attraction will be the Star Wars characters, who roam around the festival.

Numerous food vendors will offer visitors different foods including hot sausage, steak hoagies, fries, gyros, wings and treats such as funnel cakes and apple dumplings.

The yearly tradition of the festival not only offers fun for city residents but also provides an opportunity for people from outside Butler to visit downtown.Chelynne Curci, the Main Street manager for Butler Downtown, said the festival benefits the city.“It's a great event that brings a lot of people downtown to our businesses,” she said.To add to the festivities, Butler Downtown will once again keep the West New Castle Street Plaza open for the festival, Curci said“We like to keep it open for this event because it really does benefit the community,” she said.It will be the last day the plaza is open.Six bands will be divided between the West New Castle Street Plaza and a Courthouse Stage to provide live music throughout the event.For more information, visit butlerfallfestival.com.

Nathan Keep inspects the engine compartment of a 1930 Ford owned by Ed Crawford of East Brady during the annual Butler Fall Festival last year. The Rodfathers Motorsports Club of Butler will once again line up classic cars on Main Street for this year's festival Saturday.