The group 317 Local Vocals performed at last year’s HenryFest. HenryFest returns to Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth on Saturday, Sept. 7. Contributed / 317 Main

Where can you watch musically talented youngsters perform, tour old carriages, catch Julia Gagnon of “American Idol” fame, and eat some tasty food all in one day?

There’s only one place.

HenryFest, the family-focused festival presented by the 317 Main Community Music Center, returns to Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (gates open at 10:30 a.m.).

Founded in 2004 and celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, 317 Main Community Music Center is a nonprofit that features workshops, lessons, ensembles and jams for people of all ages and abilities.

This year’s festival lineup includes Griffin Sherry, formerly of the band The Ghost of Paul Revere, who is headlining the event; 317 Main House Band with special guest Julia Gagnon, Maine’s very own “American Idol” contestant; the bluegrass duo Kenny and Amanda Smith; and Yarmouth’s steel drum band Pan Fried Steel.

A 317 Main student band, Flight 317, which typically plays Americana and bluegrass music, will play at noon. They’ll be followed by the Celtic group House of Hamill.

The Yarmouth-based steel drum band Pan Fried Steel is the first set to perform at this year’s HenryFest. Contributed / Pan Fried Steel

Festivalgoers also can participate in jam sessions, in which a group of people play music in a circle and spectators can jump in and participate if they wish.

“The leader of the jam (will) call the tunes and if people don’t know the chords, then the teacher will help them with that, and we’ll just start playing,” 317 Main Executive Director John Williams said. “People are encouraged to bring their instruments.”

Beyond that, there will be food trucks, craft workshops for adults and kids, face painting, lawn games, an instrument discovery tent, free massages, and craft beer from Maine Beer Company – the festival’s presenting sponsor.

Skyline Farm is itself an attraction. Ken Sowles, who bought it in 1970, was an avid collector of carriages, and the nonprofit farm today features a carriage museum. The carriages will be open to festivalgoers to view, Williams said.

Amy Sinclair, 317 Main events manager, said the festival’s focus on activities for all ages very much aligns with the nonprofit’s spirit.

“I think a lot of organizations aspire to be multi-generational. (The) thing about the music center is that it really is,” she said. “On any given day, you will see kids with their parents, (children who are) 6 months old, even younger, coming in (and) older people.”

317 Main is also marking a semi-recent expansion to its building at – you probably guessed – 317 Main St. in Yarmouth.

The nonprofit added about 10,000 square feet to the building, including a 200-seat multipurpose performance room, a recording studio, 10 additional studios, and a cafe that serves food and drinks where performances and open mic nights are held, Williams said. The building reopened with those changes in March 2023.

The festival began as a celebration of life and a thank-you to the community. In 2002, John and Holly Williams lost their 14-year-old son Ian to brain cancer.

Part of Yarmouth’s 317 Main Community Music Center facility addition is the 200 seat Founders Hall, where music camp members rehearsed prior to an afternoon performance. Carl D. Walsh / Portland Press Herald

“So many people had helped us through that odyssey, the five years of his illness, that we wanted to do something that was sort of a thank-you to the community,” Williams said. In 2004, he was the board chairman of 317 Main, and he and his wife decided to host the very first HenryFest at their farm in North Yarmouth.

The name HenryFest comes from the family’s dog, Henry, who was beloved by Ian.

“And so that was the beginning,” Williams said. It was a “very homegrown, simple music thing.”

Tickets are $30 through Saturday, Aug. 31, and $35 the week of the event and at the door. Children 12 and under get in free and teenagers (13-17) are $10. Tickets are available for purchase through 317main.org.