'Food, Fun and Friendship' at First Lilydaze Festival

Lilydale's first community festival drew more than 400 visitors Saturday afternoon at , and was declared a success by organizers.

The preliminary attendence estimate of 435 is based off of the number of buttons distributed for the raffles, according to City Administrator Teish Stafne.

"I'm so excited; I felt like a kid," said Stafne.

Cloudy skies and a cold wind softened their hold on the day shortly before the event began, leaving blue skies and the occasional gust.

A number of Lilydale businesses set up tents to sell food and talk about their services. Visitors gathered under a large picnic tent to listen to music and , and to enjoy their food.

Many gave credit to Lilydale Mayor Anita Pampusch for the vision of the event, which was planned by residents and city staff over the course of the summer.

"It met all my expectations and probably exceeded them," said Pampusch.

She said that before the event, "I was just thrilled to see how it looked, how it felt. And then there was the question of, 'would people come?' And people came!"