The first annual Pennsylvania Organic FarmFest was held on Friday and Saturday this weekend at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall.
Live music being played on stage could be heard in the background of the festival's other events which included organic food vendors, a farmer's market and an exhibit hall.
"I came for the music," Aaron Straley said. "Then the rain hit, and we came in here to check out the stands and see what it was all about."
Children's events were held on Saturday including face painting, a petting zoo and arts and crafts.
From cantaloupes, to pulled pork, to frozen cocoa, the only commonality in the wide selection of food was the organic standards used to produce it.
Jane Leichter said she has been making organic baking mixes since about 1985. This weekend, she sold an organic and fair-trade cocoa drink, which can be served hot, cold or as a slushie, as well as several types of pancake mixes.
"Once people taste [the pancakes], they want to take the mix home and have it themselves," Leichter said.
Director of Education and Outreach for Pennsylvania Certified Organic Lee Rinehart was in charge of the numerous educational workshops at the festival.
"We had workshops that focused on that production aspect of sustainable living and gardening and farming," Rinehart said. "What I hope people took away from it was ideas of what they can do at their own place and their own back yard."
Maggie Robertson, a representative for the Pennsylvania Women's Agriculture Network gave a lecture regarding "the challenges that we're facing both as farmers and home-growers."
One tip she mentioned was "hedging your bets" by planting different kinds of crops that are successful in different kinds of climates, "so you know you're going to get tomatoes even if you don't get all of them."
The total attendance for the event was between 1,500 and 2,000 people, according to PCO Administrative Assistant Kathryn Tokarz.
Rinehart was pleased with this year's turnout, since the vendors and sponsors were really excited to see the strong potential for future years.
Camping sites for the festival were available for sponsors and volunteers as well as the general public.
Andrew Batdorf, a dairy farmer from McVeytown who ships his milk to Horizon Dairy, said that his decision to produce organically is based out of caring for his children, livestock and neighbors.
"When you spray a ground for corn and nothing grows there for four to five months, the ground almost looks sterile," Batdorf said. "Yeah, I have some weeds on my farm, but versus the chemicals, I'll take the weeds."
Robertson had a similar motivation for growing organic.
"When we started our farm, right from the beginning we knew we didn't want to use chemicals mostly for environmental reasons. Now I have two new reasons," Robertson said, gesturing to her two young children.
Robertson said she likes the fact that her children can safely be with her while she works and can eat what they find on her farm without having to worry about consumption of chemicals.
Rinehart saw this year as a very good indication of the years to come.
"We're really trying to establish this as an event that will be sustainable year after year," Rinehart said. "Our vision for this is that years later, the first weekend of August, this is the outdoor farm event in the state of Pennsylvania, and really this was a pretty good first year."
