GRANITE QUARRY — Around 60 vendors, a dozen food trucks and thousands of people converged on Granite Quarry’s Civic Park on Saturday to take part in the town’s largest event of the year.

Granite Fest saw around 4,500 people in 2022, and Events Planner Debbie Loflin-Benge said on Saturday that the event was trending upwards with how many people were showing up this year.

“I haven’t heard anything negative, people are really happy to have something to enjoy in their hometown without having to go somewhere else,” said Loflin-Benge.

Granite Fest turned the tennis courts into a vendor plaza where the crowd could walk through a host of tents. Hidden among those tents were Granite Quarry Aldermen Jim Constantino and Doug Shelton, who set up a tent in order to talk to citizens of the town and enjoy the nice day.

“It’s been a good, relaxing day. It a great thing for these families to be able to get out here and enjoy the day in our town,” said Shelton.

Grateful Heart Community Service was giving away Halloween costumes in their tent in the park. A representative of the organization said that they will be holding another giveaway on Nov. 4 at their Dunns Mountain Road location. That giveaway will be for fall items, Christmas decor and wrapping paper and food items. The organization will also be serving hot dogs, homemade chili and homemade slaw at the giveaway.

The town and aldermen also took the opportunity to ask for community input on multiple facets, including the town’s parks master plan. Stewart Consulting Firm, who is contracted with the town to handle the park master plan, had a tent set up where they asked residents what upgrades they most wanted to see at Granite Civic Park. Options included a splash pad, more seating and gathering space, a pollinator garden and a climbing wall. Stewart also asked citizens to list anything they could think of that wasn’t one of the options. The ideas they listed included a permanent jump house and a disc golf course.

Constantino said that a lot of the feedback he heard from the citizens surrounded parking situations in town. He said he and Shelton also fielded questions about the parks master plan and how the board plans to manage development in the town limits.

The event was headlined by country singer Cody Webb, who performed on the main stage in the park around 7 p.m. Loflin-Benge said that Webb’s performance also served to close out the event. At 6 in the evening, a DJ went on stage and started a dance party for the children in the park to draw them away from the tents and games and allow everyone a chance to shut down.