SALISBURY, Md. - It would not be an understatement to say Caroline O'Hare was the busiest person in all of Salisbury on Friday.
The local director for the National Folk Festival was up against the clock getting last minute preparations underway for Salisbury's final time hosting the national event.
"The last few weeks leading up to the festival, all our plans come together. All the opportunities, the challenges that we have we're able to face them on the ground with our crew with our team that comes from different parts of Maryland," she said.
Austin Derryberry and his wife came from Nashville to perform at the festival.
"It's really a blessing that it gets to move around to a different city each year so everyone gets to kind of share the love because not everybody gets to travel all over the world and see these different cultures," he said.
O'Hare says traffic delays have been underway for the past week.
You can expect main roads near downtown to experience closures and delays through the course of the event.
But O'Hare says the goal is to keep this event free. Both free admission and free parking are a priority.
"Having a free festival is a key element, because it should be accessible to everyone," she said.
Nicole Rogers, owner of Two Scoops Ice Cream, located in the heart of the festival is looking forward to the positive economic impact of the event.
"The National Folk Festival is a great opportunity for us, we'll have tons of foot traffic and probably people out the door all day," she said.
The National Folk Festival began on Friday. It will continue on Saturday from noon to 9:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
The National Folk Festival will move to a new host city next year. Salisbury will continue the tradition by hosting the newly minted "Maryland Folk Festival."