BERLIN — The weather never made good on its threat this weekend and the Berlin Jazz and Blues Festival continued throughout the day uninterrupted. Crowds were slow to materialize as many people were waiting to see what the weather was going to be but by the end of the day, officials estimate that around 2,500 people attended part or all of the festival.

“I think the weather kept the attendance down a little bit but is was still a good crowd,” said Berlin Director of Business and Economic Development Michael Day. 

By the time The Daryl Davis Band with Special Guest Margot Resto took the stage at 6 p.m., the festival had possible seen its best musical lineup yet.

Olive Mawyer, Executive Director of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event, said that by Tuesday morning she was getting thank you notes from the bands that performed.

“I’ve just had rave reviews about the music,” Mawyer said. “How well organized the event was and how great the other bands in the lineup were.”

As satisfied as the musicians were about the lineup, the attendees were obviously just as pleased. By the time the Dixieland Direct Jazz Band took were halfway through their set, people were up and dancing and continued to that way well into the evening.

“Whenever there was a band playing all the seats were filled,” said Day. “Except for during the last band, but that’s because everybody was dancing.”

When the crows weren’t dancing or in their seats they were making their way around the town to the shops and stopping and the vendors tables for snacks or souvenirs. One of the more popular tables was a tee-shirt booth selling “I love Berlin” shirts. The shirts were unique in that they had the State of Maryland logo incorporated into the design.

Second only to the bands, the Chamber of Commerce’s beer and wine tent was the most popular stop of the day. With wine provided by the Costa Ventosa winery in Whaleyville and beer provided by Burley Oak Brewery, the area was well kept and organized. Each event provides further evidence that the decision to occasionally suspend the open container laws of the Town is likely to remain a significant benefit to the Chamber, Town visitors and merchants.

For this event, the Chamber purchased commemorative plastic cups that looked as if they were pint glasses. Sporting the event logo, the “glasses” confused several people who were under the impression that there were no glass containers allowed.

Mawyer said the comparative cups were such a hit that they’ll be on sale again at this weekend’s May Day Play Day event.

For his part, Day was enthusiastic about the way the entire event was run and that there were no real difficulties at all.

“The whole Town did a great job,” he said. “And we’re going to do it again Friday.”