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The 60th annual Yarmouth Clam Festival took place this weekend, drawing crowds by the thousands for the three-day event.

All weekend long, Main Street in downtown Yarmouth was flooded with families, people wearing Clam Festival shirts, vendors and local artists.

One attendee even brought a cart full of puppies available for adoption.

The festival is a remarkable celebration of community, Director Chelsie DiConzo said, and this year’s anniversary made the event even more special.

“We really just amped it up to get people down here to celebrate it with us,” DiConzo said. “It’s amazing what a village can do.”

The weekend-long Clam Festival kicked off on Friday with the beloved parade down Main Street in Yarmouth. For weeks leading up to the festival, residents placed chairs along the street to claim their spots for the parade, a tradition almost as iconic as the event itself.

“I’ve seen chairs out around Father’s Day before,” DiConzo said. “Once the chairs go out, that’s when it becomes real.”

The 60th anniversary of the Yarmouth Clam Festival brought a robust lineup of entertainment, DiConzo said, but the community’s favorite events remained rooted in tradition.

On Friday, a flash mob entertained the crowds, and on Saturday, attendees eagerly anticipated the clam shucking and blueberry pie eating contests. For the 25th year in a row, Beatrice “Beattie” Quintal of Waldoboro won the clam shucking contest, making her the longest reigning champion.

“It’s pretty amazing,” media coordinator Amy Sinclair said.

First-timer Wilson Rith was victorious in the blueberry pie eating contest, smiling through a face full of pie.

“I have a sugar rush right now,” Rith said. “I’m on cloud nine.”

Each year, Rith and his family visit Yarmouth for the Clam Festival, and this year, he wanted to do something different by entering into the contest.

“If there’s an eating competition, he’s in,” his wife Tracy Rith said. “This is right up his alley.”

For many Clam Festival attendees, the festival has become a family tradition. Boston resident Meg Pickelhaupt has been bringing her family to the festival for at least 15 years, and it is one of her favorite parts of the summer.

Wearing a Clam Festival shirt, Pickelhaupt said the festival is so much fun because there’s always something new.

“What isn’t my favorite part?” she said. “It doesn’t matter what day you go, there’s always something awesome.”

But it’s not only patrons who enjoy the festival. Yarmouth artist Amy Toneys, who designed the official art of the Yarmouth Clam Festival this year and last year, said she loves seeing the passion and love people have for Yarmouth each year.

“People are really connected to the town,” Toneys said.

Toney’s artwork for the festival is all original water color painted with a tiny paintbrush and ink, and her inspiration came from a vintage photo of a past Clam Festival.

“I was inspired to do some iconic imagery like the lawn chairs, the clam, the lobster and the lime rickeys,” Toneys said. “People have been finding delight in the art work.”

Another artist, mural painter Jared Goulette, also known as The Color Wizard, spent the weekend live painting a mural inspired by a Yarmouth post card.

All weekend long, Goulette was approached by passersby simply in awe of his abilities to use spray paint to create something beautiful.

“All of the interactions with people have been awesome,” Goulette said. “It’s really cool to meet people.”

The weekend rounded out with director DiConzo’s own favorite event, the Diaper Derby, where young babies race for a prize. DiConzo’s own son competed in the event several years ago, making the event “wonderful” for her family.

But the best part of the weekend, she said, is just hearing the positive experiences from attendees. As Yarmouth’s largest event for nonprofits in the area, the Clam Festival is “just incredible,” DiConzo said.

“It’s remarkable what can happen when people come together for amazing reasons,” DiConzo said. “The magical moments drive you to make sure the legacy continues.”