GREENFIELD — As the clouds rolled in over the Greenfield Community College campus, the melodious voice of Shae Fiol drifted through the jubilant crowd, complemented by a bellowing trumpet.
Fiol and the other members of Mariachi Flor de Toloache strummed their instruments with fingers moving almost too fast for the eye to see. Around the stage, members of the crowd clapped with their hands in the air.
Others, both young and old, hula-hooped. Children tumbled over bales of straw in a miniature version of Mike’s Maze, and frolicked inside a worn out hot air balloon, almost like a game of parachute come to life.
The 30th annual Green River Festival got off the ground Friday along with the hot air balloons that raise up from its fields, though drizzling weather kept the flying to a minimum. Still, the weather did little to deter festival-goers. An estimated 3,000 people peppered the fields, sitting in folding chairs and taking shelter under large umbrellas.
In celebration of the event’s anniversary, John Reilly’s book “Music in the Air,” which is entirely filled with the stories from the festival and its history, was offered for sale at one of the many vendors booths.
Reilly, better known as Johnny Memphis, is a stage manager for the festival. He described the festival as a place for people to hear new music for the first time, renewing their faith in music, as well as to hear old music from their youth.
“You hear a band that you’ve never heard before and you get blown away by them,” Reilly said. “It’s an amazing thing.”
The music lineup includes many local bands and provides an eclectic mix for festival-goers like Michael Jennings, 54, of Northampton, who has been going to the festival for eight years.
“The experience is as a small town festival with really good music,” Jennings said. He has been to festivals across the country, but loves the intimate, family-oriented atmosphere of the Green River Festival.
“This almost feels like a neighborhood party,” he said.
Jennings listened from the side of the field as NRBQ played on the main stage. Having played at the first Green River Fest, the band’s presence was a fitting way to kick off the festival’s anniversary.