Samantha Elmer, 5, of Leavenworth, looks around from the back of her wagon Saturday as her father, Kevin Elmer, pulls her through the annual Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City. A

Betty Mendenhall, left, Higginsville, Mo., talks with Theodora Dixon, Lawrence, and Marie Trimble, Copan, Okla., not pictured, Saturday at Mendenhall's produce stand at the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City. Mendenhall was selling products grown on her farm.

Baldwin City ? The maple trees may not have changed colors in time for the city’s annual Maple Leaf Festival, but that didn’t stop the annual event from flourishing.

The warm weather that prevented an earlier change in leaf color was still welcomed by thousands of people who packed downtown Baldwin City on Saturday. It was also a welcome change to last year’s rainy and cold conditions.

Xia Yang, of Ottawa, said he’d “rather have warm weather” than see the leaves change. In a shady spot on a lawn, he watched his son, Tiger Yang, 9, play the violin with about 10 others from the Ottawa Suzuki Strings, a group of young musicians, who played songs for onlookers.

“This year it’s better organized; there’s more people and nice weather. It’s a great atmosphere,” he said.

Saturday’s 80-degree temperatures helped vendors like photographer Beth Ridenour, of Lawrence.

“Last year on Saturday, it was awful. I stuck it out until 4 p.m., and it was freezing,” she said. “This year it’s packed, and it helps.”

The Maple Leaf Festival is always on the third full weekend in October, rain or shine, when leaves are typically in peak season. The festival celebrates the town and its abundance of maple trees planted there in the 1920s. It usually draws between 30,000 and 40,000 people. Hundreds of vendors lined the streets selling art, clothes and crafts. Other features included a parade, train rides, carnival rides, performances and music.

A warm wind blew through the town, blowing leaves of different shades and spreading the smell of doughnuts, barbecue and turkey legs. Although the turkey legs were popular, Judy and Marvin Christesen said they drove from Missouri just for the pork burgers made by a Baldwin City church group.

Jim Orr made a shorter trip from Topeka to enjoy the festival he’s been a part of for 10 years. He used to sell his handcrafted wood shelves at a booth. His experience was different this year. Because of Baldwin City’s new ordinance that prohibits dogs from entering the festival with their owners, he sat on a corner near an entrance watching his sister’s dog.

Baker University celebrated its 150th anniversary at the festival. To celebrate, Raymond Davis, a 21-year-old Baker junior from Wichita, helped blow up orange balloons at a Baker booth.

“I think it’s awesome that Baker has been around for such a long time and has a lot of history and rich education,” Davis said. “It’s a good thing for us.”

The festival continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.