Fresh organic peaches, peach cobbler, peach pies, peach smoothies, "Give Peach a Chance" T-shirts. Those were just some of the items found at the 11th annual Lafayette Peach Festival on Saturday.

In a town that has a corner on eccentric niche events, the Peach Festival is by far the largest. This year's festival included more than 200 vendor, craft and informational booths and had to be expanded by an additional block from last year, spanning South Public Road from Cleveland to Kimbark streets in Old Town Lafayette.

There was a children's activity area and a live music stage featuring Colorado-based acts -- including Wendy Woo and the Informants -- and other entertainment areas to help draw out the crowds.

Organizers estimated that more than 20,000 people sweated through temperatures in the mid-90s to attend Saturday.

"You figure the bigger the space the bigger it is going to be," Ted Lupberger, from the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. "This is the big kahuna. No doubt about it, people want these Palisade peaches."

More than 30,000 pounds of fresh, tree-ripened peaches from family farms in Palisade were for sale by the bag and the box-full at the festival.

"Palisade has it own peach festival today and we come here," said Bob Shaw, owner of Red Fox Run Orchards, said Saturday. "It's just a lot of fun and we have a lot of customers follow us because of the quality of our fruit."

Superior resident Tracey Vogel attended the festival for the first time this year and brought her children Bella, 3, and Brady, 1.

"We've heard about it for years and never quite made it," Vogel said. "So we thought we'd come out and get some fresh peaches."

Vogel's kids especially like the child-sized gymnastic area Saturday, while Vogel was simply impressed by the festival's turnout.

"We got here at 9:45 a.m. and it was already packed," she said. "They were almost out of cobbler and pie by 10 a.m."

Audrey Gore fanned herself as she sat with her mother, Jean Wolf. The two have attended the festival for the past four years and said enjoying Saturday's event was well worth dealing with the sweltering temperatures.

"We've come in the pouring rain and the hot sun," Wolf said. "The weather doesn't stop us."

"I think it is just wonderful," added Gore. "It's got something for everybody, from food to crafts to games for the kids. We start checking for the date for it in January. We look forward to it every year."

Tony Peckman was a first-time vendor at the Peach Festival this year. He and his wife, Kelli, own Kelli's Sandbox, a sand art craft shop in Highlands Ranch. Their booth offered kids the chance to create their own sand art pieces, including pendants.

"It's hotter than the blazes out here," said Peckman, who otherwise said the festival treated his business very well, especially as more families turned out later in the afternoon.

"The kids are all here now," Peckman said. "The old folks all came early and took their peaches and ran off."