With one day instead of two set for the 18th Dungeness River Festival, organizers say about 1,500 people still packed the Railroad Bridge Park for events and exhibits.

Powell Jones, executive director of the Dungeness River Audubon Center, said he is happy with the results after they made the change to one day on Sept. 29 to avoid conflicts with other community events on Saturday.

“Having it on Friday was a great way to maximize the people who are paid to be here from agencies and getting the resources here to educate people,” he said.

“They got a lot out of it and so did the participants.”

Many of the participants were children from local schools including students from Greywolf and Helen Haller Elementary in grades third-fifth, along with homeschool and private school students such as Five Acre School.

Jones said organizers are exploring possibly adding a preview night from 4-7 p.m. the Thursday before the festival to accommodate people who work during the day and still not conflict with busy Saturdays.

“It could give the public more of an opportunity to participate,” he said.

This year featured more vendors than before including the Peninsula Chapter Back Country Horsemen of Washington and the Urban Forestry Program, which Jones said may have made the event more feasible for agencies.

If they were to add a Thursday night preview, he’d hope for at least 80 percent of the vendors to participate while possibly adding more live music.

For more information on the festival or river center at the Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road in Sequim, visit www.DungenessRiverCenter.org or call 681-4076.