CONWAY — The spirit of small towns lives on in Conway, as the Festival of the Hills returns this weekend to bring the community together.

The festival will be held in the town center on Sunday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as Conway’s premier event marks its 60th edition — although it is actually the 62nd anniversary of the event due to multiple pandemic-related cancellations.

With activities for the whole family, local food and crafts, as well as an opportunity to raise money for scholarships, Festival of the Hills Publicity Coordinator Thad Bennett said the event is emblematic of the character of small towns.

“The spiritual foundation of what we’re doing is to have fun and all that, but it’s also because we’re saying ‘yes’ to our young people,” Bennett added. “If that’s not small-town, I don’t know what is.”

The Festival of the Hills, which is a 501(c)(3)-designated nonprofit, serves as a fundraiser for scholarships benefiting high school seniors from Conway. In the last seven years alone, it has awarded more than $35,000 to high school seniors and more than $155,000 in its six-decade history. At noon, the festival will announce the Tricia Donovan Scholarship, which is given in honor of Tricia Donovan, who was a longtime chairperson of the Festival of the Hills.

In the spirit of community the festival brings to Conway, current Festival of the Hills Committee Chair Hazel Goleman was the beneficiary of one of the event’s scholarships in 2017, which inspired her to join the committee and help organize it this year.

“I’ve seen that it does take a village and a whole lot of town pride and love from the locals to put this festival together year after year,” Goleman said. “We do it all for everyone to enjoy, but especially for the kids who are like me, Conway-born and raised and eager, to take on the world after high school. I look forward to this year’s festival, and to seeing the smiling faces that make this community so special.”

The festival kicks off on Sunday morning with the annual Covered Bridge Classic 10K Road Race at 10 a.m., which begins at the covered bridge on Main Poland Road and loops up around Reeds Bridge and Truce roads before finishing in front of the Field Memorial Library. The 10K is part of the Sugarloaf Mountain Athletic Club’s 2024 race series. Registration is $35 for adults and $5 for children of a registered parent.

Same-day registration is also available in front of the Field Memorial Library from 8:45 to 9:40 a.m., but it will cost $45. Those who register in advance will receive a pair of Covered Bridge Classic socks. Advance registration can be done at bit.ly/3r7vGu6.

While runners are on the road, food and craft vendors, as well as the Conway Historical Society, will be opening up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for folks to buy food or festival merchandise or check out the Historical Society’s “Love’s Sweet Afterglow: The History of Death and Mourning in Conway” exhibit at 50 Main St.

Other festival mainstays will kick off throughout the day at the town ballfield, with the log splitting contest beginning at 11:30 a.m. and the skillet toss at 2 p.m. Performances from local musicians will be held throughout the day.

While the festival is on Sunday, other town organizations are also holding events on Saturday in anticipation of the Festival of the Hills. A bake sale will be held on the town common from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Friends of the Field Memorial Library will hold the annual book sale at the library from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The historic Boyden Schoolhouse will also be open for visiting hours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Capping things off on Saturday is the Firemen’s Auxiliary turkey dinner at Conway Grammar School at 5:30 p.m. While there are no tickets left for sit-in meals, there are still tickets for takeout meals at 6:30 p.m. To place a reservation for a takeout turkey dinner, call Baker’s Country Store at 413-369-4936 or stop by the store at 101 River St.

Parking this year will be available at the South River Meadow, north of Route 116 on Shelburne Falls Road. Additional parking will be available on Whately Road and other marked side streets.

Organizers are still seeking volunteers to help run the event throughout the day. Typically, it requires about 120 volunteers — in a town of a little more than 1,700 — to put on the festival, Bennett said.

“It takes a village to put on a festival,” Bennett said. “Ten percent of the population steps up to make this festival happen because it’s fun, it’s a community event and it supports our young people.”

To sign up to volunteer, visit festivalofthehills.com/volunteer.

For more information about the Festival of the Hills, visit its website at festivalofthehills.com or its Facebook page at facebook.com/conwayfestivalofthehills.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.