RIDGWAY, Pennsylvania — While outsiders like to say there are more elk than people here in Elk County because of the abundance of the former and the sparse population of the latter, today is a different day as thousands of people from across Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland descend here for this town’s annual Mountain Fest.

The parking lots are mud-soaked and so full that not one but two overflow lots are hastily put together as it becomes clear to organizers that if you put together a community-centric event, people will come.