A line of StreetFest attendees wait to order from the Almost Heaven Taters food truck along King Street on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Saturday dawned bright and sunny, which was perfect weather for the return of Shepherdstown StreetFest, after a four-year hiatus.

Thousands of tourists and community residents took to the streets of downtown Shepherdstown, to shop from the booths of about 70 artisans and retailers, listen to live music and feast on food from local establishments and food trucks. The success of this event was the result of the hard work of many local people, under the new leadership of organizing committee president John Meeker.

“I was on the board of Shepherdstown Shares,” Meeker said, about his and his fellow volunteers’ reason for bringing back StreetFest after the COVID-19 Pandemic. “We’ve been so inspired by the seemingly unending generosity of the people in town. We kept on talking about ways to thank them, something outdoors with music, and that sounded an awful lot like StreetFest!

“I saw that CATF (the Contemporary American Theater Festival) was going forward with their season, and I thought, ‘Well, maybe we should do StreetFest again,'” Meeker said. “We started planning in March. It’s usually a 10 or 11 month planning process, so it’s been a bit of a sprint! I was able to lean on people who organized it before — people like Lori Robertson and Chris Stroech and Bob Keel — who had all run the festival before and helped me tremendously to make sure everything went smoothly.”

With free admission, free parking, a shuttle service, a kid camp, a beer and wine garden and two stages — the main stage and the library stage — the festival easily appealed to a variety of people. That proved even truer at this year’s event, which included everything in its 12-group musical lineup, from funk to jazz to bluegrass to classical.

Black Masala’s Kristen Vermillion relaxes with her two-year-old daughter, Aurora, prior to her performance at Shepherdstown StreetFest 2022 on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“I really wanted the Charles Washington Symphony Orchestra! I felt we really needed to have classical music represented, and they are the orchestra of my people here in the Eastern Panhandle,” Meeker said of the first classical group to hit the StreetFest stage. “Many of them are my neighbors.

“I’d seen them perform at the old Town Run Tap House back in the day, and I was like, ‘Wow, you can put classical music in nontraditional locations!’ And that’s what I wanted to see here,” Meeker said. “Many of the music groups here have performed at StreetFest in the past. We wanted to stick with performers who had attachments to Shepherdstown, and make this a homecoming for everyone.”

Proceeds from the festival will benefit Shepherdstown Shares and the Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center, both of which had informational booths at StreetFest.

While the work of local nonprofits was being benefited by the festival’s proceeds, a different kind of good was also taking place, as a result of the festival — the reuniting of the Shepherdstown community, post-pandemic.

“It’s been so many years since we’ve been able to come together. We’ve been able to see old friends that we haven’t seen for a few years here!” said Donna Joy, of Shepherdstown.

Shoppers make their way in between booths along German Street on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“I think the turnout is fantastic, people are being beautiful to each other, and everybody is having a great day! I’m just super, super happy that StreetFest is back!” Meeker said. “If the town will let me do it, we’re doing it again next year, for sure!”

The owner of Tie Dye Adventurez steps away from his booth at Shepherdstown StreetFest 2022 to hang out with a potential customer on Saturday afternoon. David Pennock

Shepherdstown StreetFest 2022 attendees browse through a booth along German Street Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

Children crowd around to watch a boy successfully hit a high target at Shepherdstown StreetFest 2022. Tabitha Johnston