Nothing could’ve rained on this parade. A 10-foot-tall stilt walker surrounded by dancers waving flags and shaking sequin-clad hips – aka the Haitian rara band Feet of Rhythm – led crowds of bopping revelers toward the Railroad stage as the American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront opened Friday evening. After a forecast of rain, the gray afternoon gave way to muggy sunshine – and a late-night shower – but even that wasn’t enough to deter the hardiest of festival-goers.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be a downpour, but we brought our ponchos,” said Linda Thomas of Bangor, who has made the event an end-of-summer ritual since 2002. “We’re going to be here unless there’s lightning. You know what they say in Maine, if you don’t like the weather, wait a little bit.”

Weather or not, a “robust” number of people came, though festival organizers hadn’t released crowd estimates at press time.

Julia Olin of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, which produces the event and the National Folk Festival, said the “huge crowds” and enthusiasm in years past bode well for the American Folk Festival’s continued success.

“You’re in the prime,” she said, smiling and surveying the sea of people watching the Irish ensemble The Green Fields of America, “just the absolute, glowing prime.”

Now in its third year as an independent festival, this offshoot of The National has established itself as the region’s biggest event of the summer – last year, 162,000 people attended over the course of the weekend. Olin stressed that this is a pivotal time for the festival’s future in terms of fundraising and community support, which will ensure that the event remains free.

“Maine is not a wealthy state, and the money here is raised a little bit at a time,” she said. “So far, no big corporate sponsor has stepped forward to be a presenting sponsor.”

On Friday, Gov. John Baldacci took the stage to announce a $20,000 gift to AFF, putting organizers that much closer to their $1.03 million fundraising goal for 2007. A $169,000 deficit remains.

“You can see by the turnout … that this is certainly money well-seeded here,” Baldacci said. “It draws to the region. It brings families who eat in the restaurants, stay in the hotels, shop in the shopping centers, over a two- to three-day period. We think that’s a huge benefit.”

Sandy and Bob Soucy of Wolfeboro, N.H., are part of that trend. They planned their Maine vacation around the festival and arrived early to stake out seats in front of the Heritage stage. Before the music began, they looked at their schedules and highlighted performances they wanted to see.

“For me, I’m interested in the other things, the things you can’t see everywhere else, like the Inuit throat singers and the Tibetan monks,” Sandy Soucy said.

As Andrew and Rebecca Croce of Bangor watched their 20-month-old son dance to the sounds of the Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, they echoed Soucy’s sentiments. The couple lived in New Orleans before returning to their hometown, and they were looking forward to a little crawfish etoufee and a lot of music.

“I really like that they don’t cater to the lowest common denominator,” Andrew Croce said. “You don’t just get your blues or your rock ‘n’ roll. I’m sure they know that polka and storytelling [won’t bring in huge crowds], but they still push the good stuff.”

The Croces love “the vibe” that the festival brings to town – during its three-day run and, increasingly, year-round.

“The more things like this you have, the more viable Bangor becomes as a venue for artists.”

Heather McCarthy, the festival’s executive director, dreams of a year-round venue – similar to the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth or the Strand Theatre in Rockland – where festival favorites can play during the off months – as a means of raising money toward the August event, as well as a way for locals to reconnect with bands they love.

“I think the folk festival has gotten people more excited about what the possibilities are,” McCarthy said. “I think it’s provided a cultural cornerstone that has spread out into a lot of areas.”

Dwain Winters, the NCTA’s technical director, said that cultural awakening is a true sign of whether or not a festival will thrive.

“We’re no longer in that, ‘Are we bigger than we were last year?’ mode,” Winters said. “The true measure of success is how much people appreciate the music, the dance, the food. … The audience has become very sophisticated. During a set change, people are moving from stage to stage deliberately. People are beginning to have favorites. They’re developing a taste in a genre. They’re not simply coming to a big event, they’re coming to something they have a vested interest in … that’s another mark of success.”

And they’re coming no matter what Mother Nature may bring.

As the festival drew to a close Friday night, a light rain began to fall on the field at Railroad Stage. Still, hundreds of reggae fans stayed and swayed and raised their arms in the air as Morgan Heritage’s lead singer called out, “Hey, yeah.”

Near the stage, Christina Perez of Hampden and Josh Strange of Fryeburg, both students at the New England School of Communications at Husson College, danced and laughed and took turns wearing the one fedora they had between the two of them.

“It’s a tradition – I have to be here,” said Perez. This is her sixth festival. “It’s way too much fun. It’s amazing. … I knew it was going to rain and I didn’t care.”

For maps, directions and scheduling information, visit www.americanfolkfestival.com.

When you go…

Bring rain gear, layers and comfortable shoes.

Leave your pets at home.

Parking is available at Bass Park, with shuttles to the festival grounds, for a fee of $5 per day or $10 for a three-day pass.

Bicycle parking is available between the Heritage Stage and Kenduskeag Dance Pavilion.

Use caution at railroad crossings; don’t walk on tracks.

For information, visit

www.americanfolkfestival.com.