It’s difficult to imagine there was anything a person could want or need that wasn’t available at the 31st annual Sidewalk Sale Thursday in downtown Lawrence.

Books. Movies. Golf clubs. Fresh produce. Nachos. Crafts. Antiques. Religious instruction. Parenting advice. Massages. T-shirts. Paraphernalia from Lawrence High, Free State High and Kansas University. And water  lots of water.

But to get to those things, you had to negotiate your way through thousands of bargain hunters that filled the sidewalks nearly to the point of overflowing.

Not that anybody was complaining.

“I’m having a lot of fun,” said Christine Caffey, 12, of Lawrence. She was shopping with a cousin, and had a bag filled with clothes and makeup. “Normally I don’t get to go shopping and see all the bargains downtown.”

The sale seemed to be as much about socializing as shopping for many of the people who were downtown.

“I came for the heck of it, just because there’s so many people here,” said Steven Everly, 19, of Eudora. “I’m just down here for something to do. I see a lot of people I know.”

It wasn’t a bad day for the merchants, either.

“I think it’s a festive atmosphere,” said Melodie Christal of Downtown Lawrence Inc., which sponsors the event. “It’s a something everybody looks forward to, and it’s a time when the businesses can get rid of some of their inventory as well as generate business during a slow time of year.”

Some shoppers were concerned that nonprofit agencies that sponsored food booths in the past had been forced out by DLI. Christal said there were 15 nonprofit groups  including Amitabha Buddhist Assn., Lawrence Humane Society and Lawrence High School band boosters  represented at the sale.

Christal noted that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment threatened this year to crack down on any organization that served food without meeting state health standards.

“They weren’t kicked out of the downtown sale at all,” Christal said.

Downtown merchants said Thursday was a good day.

“It’s a little hot, but it’s great,” said Wally Wondrack, a salesman at Sunflower Bicycle Shop. “I’ve worked 22 of these things, and this is the best crowd I’ve ever seen. And the most early shoppers I’ve seen.”

The sale also drew people from out of town.

“I didn’t know it was so big,” said Kim Wanders of Kansas City, Mo. “It’s so exciting. There are big sales everywhere, and I got to see my friends.”