POWDER SPRINGS – Dyann Farmer of Mableton said she didn’t even realize it was Powder Springs Day.

“I was picking up my great-grandson, and I was driving through Powder Springs and saw it and said, ‘We need to stop! ” she said.

Farmer and her 2-year-old great-grandson, Sam Lyle of Douglasville, were among the 2,500 people organizers were projecting to come to downtown Powder Springs on Saturday. The event started with a parade down Marietta Street and included cheerleading and dance groups all day on the town’s square.

DeVonna Hill of Powder Springs said she came to the event to watch her children, Kyle, 9, and Kalise, 6, march in the parade. The Powder Springs Elementary School students threw candy to parade-goers lining the street.

“Everything is excellent,” DeVonna Hill said. “We’re having a good time. The weather is great.”

Mayor Pat Vaughn said the parade is her favorite part of the event. It featured 23 entries, including the McEachern High School band, as well as participants from Tapp Middle School.

“I always love a parade,” she said. “I love the kids standing to the side and I love the band…I just spent all my money, and now I’m going through my husband’s money.”

While entry was free, the festival had plenty of places to spend money, with food from Chick-fil-A and ice cream from Bruster’s. It also featured arts and crafts vendors selling everything from miniature porch swings featuring the names of popular football and baseball teams to marshmallow shooters.

For kids there were inflatable rides, including a slide that southwest Cobb Commissioner-elect Lisa Cupid rode down with her two young sons.

Among the entertainment was Lisa’s Dance Spot of Atlanta and Powder Springs-based Country Classic Cloggers. The clog group has performed at sites like Callaway Gardens and the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C., as well as local events like the Jonquil Festival in Smyrna and the North Georgia State Fair. Becky Duchemin, who has directed the group since 1987, said it is always special to perform for the hometown audience.

“We teach lessons and share our joy of clogging with everyone we can,” she said.

Powder Springs Day is operated by JRM Management Services. After a period of time under a different name, the festival was revived as Powder Springs Day in 2010.

Farmer said she is already looking forward to the 2013 festival.

“It’s just a great time, everybody needs to come out and partake in the free festival,” she said. “There’s not much free stuff in the world.”