FLINT, MI--The Buckham Alley Fest returned for its fourth year on Saturday, bringing live music, vendors and food into downtown Flint.

Bands set up on stages on both ends of the alley, while vendors sold food, clothing, jewelry, beauty products and other items. Artists showcased their talents on a graffiti wall on the James Rutherford Parking structure and in an art zone of different vendors.

Members of Friends of the Alley, the group that organizes the festival, were anticipating a crowd of 2,000 to attend the festival.

"It originally started as a festival where we hoped that 300 people would come through," said coordinator Kathleen Gazall. "We got between 1,500 and 2,000, and it's been consistent ever since."

She and Marcus Papin, secretary for Friends Of The Alley, expected the food trucks like the new Vehicle City Tacos to be one of the big attractions this year, since the trucks are popping up in communities around the country. Each of the festival's participating downtown restaurants also had outdoor seating, and more restaurants were integrated into the festival to make sure that there was enough for the whole event.

Downtown businesses like Landall Packaging, Genysys Health Systems, Torch and Sectorlink sponsored the graffiti wall, the stages, and the lights.

"It's cool to see downtown stakeholders who are budded against the alley to take on some ownership of this festival," Papin said. "It's not just us out here trying to pull together. It's almost organic at this point, where they want to be a part of it."

In future years, Gazall said, they want to expand the festival to Brush Alley to hopefully include two extra stages.

Grand Blanc resident Leta Gonsler attended the festival for the first time on Saturday after visiting the new Flint Farmers' Market for the first time. It was her third day in a row visiting downtown: the first was going out to eat with her family, and the second was at the 2nd Friday ARTWALK.

She was impressed with the festival, and with the continued growth downtown.

"I grew up in Flint, so it's nice to see Flint come back," she said.