The first Riverside Park Festival in Greenville is slated for this weekend.

The festival -- organized by the Greenville Area Preservation Association, a civic-minded group that formed early this year -- runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Association spokeswoman Lorrie Smith said she is hopeful that the two-day event will attract at least 1,000 people. She is fearful of rain -- some weather forecasts call for showers with a chance of thunderstorms on Saturday.

The event has already attracted dozens of vendors offering food, arts & crafts and other merchandise. As of Thursday, 42 vendors had registered to set up shop in the park this weekend, Ms. Smith said.

The festival will feature a host of activities, including live music and a dog-training exhibition, and a Stat-Medivac helicopter is slated to be on display at Packard One baseball field.

Once parking spaces near the park are filled, people can park their cars in the old supermarket lot on Shenango Street or in the public lot across the street, Ms. Smith said.

A 13-passenger Anderson Bus & Tour van will shuttle festival-goers from the lots to the park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, she said.