Two months ago, Tom and Carol Davis of West Deptford, N.J., booked a campsite in Bangor, bought a camper – in that order – and patiently waited for this weekend’s National Folk Festival.

Two hours before the opening act took the stage Friday, the couple shot the breeze with a nearby camper at the Paul Bunyan Campground and waited for friends to drive them into the city, which by late afternoon began to see the first wave of out-of-state license plates cruise by the festival’s waterfront site.

“We’ve gone though the program and highlighted all the acts we just have to see,” said Carol Davis, 55, sitting on a picnic table. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Apparently, a lot of people were.

While the festival is expected to draw between 60,000 and 75,000 to the Penobscot River front during its three-day run, attendance for Friday evening’s lineup exceeded expectations, attracting at least 10,000 people.

Among them were the Davises, both veterans of the Philadelphia Folk Festival, also scheduled for this weekend.

But this year, Friday also marked the first day of the festival in Bangor, one of the smallest cities to host the national event in its 64 years.

And while the Davises were highlighting their favorite acts, at the campground’s main office owner, Shirley Hachey, did some highlighting of her own, using the bright yellow pen to cross off the rapidly filling sites as campers continued to stream in.

“Yesterday was unusual,” Hachey said of the Thursday afternoon rush into the campground, which- like many local hotels – was full or near capacity for the weekend with visitors.

Although some campers were coming from as far away as Illinois and Wisconsin for the festival, many planning to attend were from closer to home.

And coming early.

Shortly after noon, Roberta Bailey and Rodney Braley, both from nearby Dixmont, leaned against a railing along the city’s riverfront and perused the schedule.

“I think it’s going to be a good time,” said Roberta Bailey, 48. “We just wanted to see what it’s all about.”

Mark Meadows, mayor of East Lansing, Mich., knows what it’s all about.

East Lansing hosted the festival the past three years, and Meadows was in the crowd this year to take in the waterfront celebration.

“I needed my National Folk Festival fix,” said Meadows, whose city launched a local version of the folk festival upon the national festival’s move to Bangor. “It becomes part of your life, and it brings a community together.”

Indeed, the closer one ventured to the hub of the city, the more prevalent the folk festival became, with nearly every downtown merchant putting out signs welcoming visitors to the event.

And there were quite a few visitors, with festival-goers toting folding chairs and pushing baby carriages through the masses that gathered along the waterfront.

Where there are large crowds, there are inevitably glitches and, sometimes, long waits.

And the first night was not without its glitches.

Later in the evening, police sent officers to the corner of Buck and Main streets to direct traffic after receiving reports of large crowds crossing Main Street and stopping traffic, which at points during the evening was backed up a quarter-mile to the Interstate 395 interchange.

“Apparently it’s quite a crowd,” said Bangor police Sgt. Larry Weber. “But it’s been a good crowd.”