The 37th annual Butler Fall Festival attracted thousands of people downtown Saturday to ring in the changing of the season.

Scattered rain showers in the morning cleared away for most of the afternoon, allowing spectators to enjoy more than 100 vendors, live music and food at one of downtown's signature events.

“It's unbelievable to see everything come together,” said Sheri Hershberger, the festival's lead organizer.

The festival was canceled shortly after it started in 2013 due to a threat of thunderstorms. Last year it welcomed perfect sunny weather throughout the day.

Despite the early showers, Hershberger said she did not fear a repeat of 2013.

“I wasn't nervous (Saturday),” she said. “I believe in God so I knew everything would be all right.”

The festival takes a year to plan, with organizers meeting monthly to coordinate everything.

This year's event was threatened due to a lack of volunteers, but the festival's committee eventually found help through the assistance of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.

Hershberger said the festival got help from a sorority from Slippery Rock University and from volunteers' families.

Her husband, Keith, for example was in charge of the event's entertainment.

“When you need volunteers, you pull them in whenever you can,” she joked.

Hershberger said the event's diverse vendors give people an opportunity to see and learn about new things.

Meanwhile, the large crowd greatly helps the vendors lining Main Street.

“It's a huge opportunity for people to sell their goods,” she said. “I love to see we have so many crafters.”

Chris Ziegler with the Butler Freeport Trail agreed the event was a great opportunity to reach a variety of people.

“With the amount of traffic to come through here, we spend the whole day talking to folks about the trail,” she said.

The trail council has had a booth set up at the event for about eight years.

Ziegler said the exposure was beneficial became many of the people did not know about the trail.

“And now that we are connected to Butler, we have a new brochure to hand out to everyone,” she said. “People like the face-to-face interaction.”

Rebecca Dancik with the Butler Catholic School said the weather made for a nice festival.

“It's an absolutely beautiful day,” she said.

The school was holding an annual bake sale at the festival, selling about 150 pies.

“We're extremely grateful because the event helps us fundraise for the year,” she said. “This is one of the bigger fundraisers we do.”

Fundraising was something many of the area's nonprofits did during the event.

Cheryl Oday with the Butler Relay for Life said the festival kicks off its annual campaign.

“We're starting for the next year,” she said, referencing the fundraiser that lasts through the charity's own annual summer event. “This past year we raised $11,000.”

Oday said the large festival is great for nonprofits looking for help.

“It's great because we don't have to go out and set everything up ourselves,” she said. “It's a good beginning to the fundraising.”

Pat Harmon, a kindergarten teacher with the Saint Wendelin School in Oakland Township, said the crowd was a good way to promote her school.

“There are a lot of people who don't know about us,” she said.

The school had blue balloons to hand out to children in attendance, a popular move.

“The kids love them,” she said. “And we have our students passing them out.”

Denny Nichols of Butler said his son, Carter, 4, certainly liked the balloons.

“I think it was his favorite thing here,” he said.

Nichols said he enjoyed the live chain saw carving, which was being done by Damian Skal, one of the founders of the Butler Chain Saw Carving Invitational.

“I thought the guy carving the turtle was cool,” Nichols said. “But the whole day is nice and is a good chance to get outside with your kids.”