Hundreds of people descended upon Rochester over the weekend as the OK Rochester festival made its return.
Locals and visitors from near and far, including many from Melbourne who stayed locally during the weekend, turned out in force to enjoy the festivities.
There was something for everyone with live music, activities and market stalls filling every corner of the town centre.
Rochester Business Network vice-president Kate Taylor said she was surprised at the wide demographic of festival-goers.
“I thought it was going to be your 20 to 35 age bracket, but there were definitely people older than that, but also the younger ones running around,” she said.
“I think that really goes towards the success of the event, it was open to and attractive to everyone, regardless of age.”
Ms Taylor added that it had also been a great weekend for local businesses, with visitors shopping local.
“For the RBN and for our businesses in town, it means a lot because there were over 1000 tickets sold for this event,” she said.
“From all reports, businesses were really, really happy with the trade and the foot traffic that they got. So, it's been an absolute success all-round.”
The day kicked off at 8am with the town market, where stallholders from around the region set up shop at the skate park to sell a range of goods and local produce.
Over at the Rochester Shire Hall, or the Rochy Hall of Friendship, love was in the air as friends gathered to profess their affection to their friends over a Devonshire tea.
They also had the chance to take the next step with the ‘Marry Your Friends’ ceremonies, where they could walk down the aisle, exchange vows before a celebrant and seal the deal with a first dance.
Throughout the day, the Hall of Friendship also hosted fortune-telling for friends, drinks at the Bar of Friendship, and line dancing at the Disc Rodeo Boot Scooting.
From 1pm, live music took over the town, with the Criterion Hotel, Shamrock Hotel and Rochester Hotel offering guests refuge from the heat and a cold drink while they enjoyed some tunes.
Visitors moved between the pubs to catch performances from acts such as Public Figures, Chimers, Hedge Burners, Loose Lips, Kacy & Clayton, and Jess Ribeiro.
Festival-goers also had the chance to explore the murals sprinkled throughout town, drink the best on offer from local wineries, breweries and distilleries at the Sip Shop stands and enjoy glow-up sessions at Sportspower.
As the sun began to set, crowds gathered at the main stage for a Welcome to Country and blessing before the live music continued.
The line-up started off strong with Wrong Way Up, Drifting Clouds and Sylvie easing the crowd into the groove ahead of the night's headline performance by Marlon Williams.
Hailing from New Zealand, Marlon Williams gave a showstopping performance on the night.
He opened with a few songs from his recently released album ‘Te Whare Tīwekaweka’, his first record sung completely in his native language of te reo Maori, followed by a few covers and some of his other works.
To wrap us his set, he invited Kacy & Clayton on stage to perform some numbers from their joint album ‘Plastic Bouquet’.
While the event officially finished at around midnight, many continued long into the night, with DJ Millú keeping the tunes pumping at the Shamrock Hotel.
Ms Taylor said the OK Rochester organising team should be applauded for their efforts.
“I just want to congratulate Kate Berry and the organisers of OK Motels, and really thank them for being so easy to work with,” she said.
“The communication has been amazing between them and Hannah Taylor, our RBN administrative secretary... she goes above and beyond, and she should be really acknowledged for her work in this as well.”