For Ivette Roman of Tamaqua, the 31st annual Tamaqua Heritage Festival on Sunday served as confirmation for moving to the small town from the Bronx.

She watched at the festival while her daughter, Kaitlyn Rivera, 6, tried hard to get the attention of a timid alpaca. The alpaca was one of two brought to the festival by Picnic Woods Alpacas of East Penn Township.It was the second year that Roman attended the event."I love it," she said. "I get to meet a lot of people and I'm having a good time."For Connor Tippett of Lake Harmony, it was the crafts that brought him to the festival.Jerry Johnson of Pottsville said he came for the food, as well as visiting the car show.People had all sorts of reasons to come, and that's why the Heritage Festival had a large turnout of people. Of course, the ideal weather conditions - clear skies with temperatures in the 70s - also contributed.The festival extended for several blocks on West Broad Street and North Railroad Street.Disc jockeys played music while people visited vendors and tasted the many foods available including Caribbean Cajun, candy apples, pastries, french fries, hamburgers, shish kebab, peach cobbler and funnel cake, to name a few.Jolene Barron sat knitting at a stand put up by Summershanty Fiber Arts of West Penn Township. She said, "We've been very busy. It's a steady crowd and they're buying a lot."Erika Davis, who was selling decorated apples and pastries for the Tamaqua Lady Raiders Basketball, agreed."This is the first year we're doing this and we've gotten a lot of support from the community." She said, "This is a beautiful day for the festival."Dozens of antique cars of many makes and models greeted the attendees on North Railroad Street.A sampling:• A 1937 For Cabriolet, gray with a black convertible roof, owned by Chuck and Laverne Seaver of Pottsville.• An original 1969 Plymouth Roadster, orange with a black top, owned by Rich and Lynn Boehmer of Hazleton.• A 1965 Buick Skylark owned by Alex Shereba of Coaldale. He is the second owner of the car, which was originally purchased in Lansford by the first owner, who lived in Summit Hill. "This car never left the Panther Valley," he said. It has 156,000 original miles and runs great.• A bright red Chevy Camaro, with 62,000 miles on it, owned by Lou Paul of Nesquehoning. The car has its original 8-track tape player.• A 1931 Ford Model A owned by Tom Bartasavage of Summit Hill.One eye-catching vehicle was a "Ghostbuster" car owned by Daniel Tyson of Andreas. The 1978, white Ford LTD had "Ghostbuster" objects on its roof, just like in the movies. He even had a "proton pouch," which had lights and a siren.Tyson said he will likely enter the car, which he called "Ecto 1," in the Andreas Halloween Parade on Oct. 21, weather permitting.Several organizations raised money with stands at the Heritage Festival, including a Tamaqua Fire Company, booster clubs and civic groups.Alicia Olenginski of Palmerton said, "This is a great little festival. It's my first time here and I'm enjoying myself."