Music, Food and Fun Take Center Stage at P’ville Music Festival
With an afternoon of nearly continuous music, the scent of appetizing food and plenty of activities, the Pleasantville Music Festival went off without a hitch on Saturday.
The ninth annual event welcomed thousands to Parkway Field, with multiple musical acts energizing an already enthusiastic crowd despite early threats of poor weather. Whether it was the musicians on stage, vendors behind tables or residents and other visitors taking advantage of both, no one had complaints about how the day went.
“It’s really, I think, working out pretty well,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “We were worried about the weather, the sun has come out and people are still coming in.”
Local residents and other visitors from around Westchester County and beyond said the festival, which is scheduled for a Saturday each July, is something they make sure to mark on their calendar.
Pleasantville resident Joe Wallace said after missing the inaugural festival in 2005–one in which his wife gushed about what a great time she had–he’s made it a point to attend every year.
“I like the fact that it’s a community thing,” Wallace said. “I like the fact that it still feels kind of intimate even though it’s kind of big for Pleasantville.”
Another resident, Alison Laden, said she was attending her first Pleasantville Music Festival after moving into the village a few years ago. She set up a small campsite and planned on making it an all day affair. She discovered that the mixture of music and activities for her kids made for a perfect setting, although it did take some convincing from friends for her to attend.
“It’s a lot of fun close to home,” she said.
Local businesses and nonprofit organizations also reaped the festival’s benefits.
Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce board member Karen Lehman said it’s an event that entices a variety of people to come out each year. With the exposure, it’s an opportunity to give people a chance to familiarize themselves with different Pleasantville businesses.
Lehman added that the village is also happy to welcome vendors from outside the village.
“Pleasantville is a friendly community,” she said. “I think it’s very family oriented here…you have a lot of hardworking families.”
It wasn’t only spectators that fed off of the energy. The folk rock group Delta Rae, which came in by bus after a Friday night gig in Cincinnati and had little sleep, received an adrenaline boost from the vocal crowd to perform an impressive set.
“I love the family environment. I love how relaxed it felt,” Delta Rae vocalist and guitarist Ian Holljes said. “I like that it’s so contained, one stage. And it was as I expected, just very welcoming, very unpretentious and a lot of fun.”
