Families, young people and the artistically inclined filled the grounds of Bel Air's Shamrock Park and the surrounding streets to check out several hundred creative vendors for the town's 51st annual Festival for the Arts on Sunday.Some mused the day may have brought a somewhat thinner crowd this year, and the weather stayed overcast but muggy for late September, with the heat index in the upper 80s."I think it was a little bit lower," Shirley Dagostin, who has worked at the event's information desk for about 40 years, said as she was leaving Sunday afternoon, but added: "I feel it was a good crowd."Shamrock Park and side streets like Pennsylvania Avenue and Burns Alley were lined with vendor tents offering everything from traditional paintings to Maryland-based or sports-themed merchandise and quirky products, like personalized dog capes.The event offered plenty of people-watching and whimsical sights. A crowd watched dancers perform classical ballet on the park bandstand early Sunday afternoon, while several artists took the opportunity to work on their own paintings at the festival.One woman sat in front of a small canvas, painting what appeared to be the ballet dancers; a stiltwalker dressed as a pirate walked through the crowd; a young woman wore a parrot on her shoulder as she wandered around the park."You always want to have your art visible. Of course, it would have been very nice to have it visible on a nicer day; I'm sweating bullets," C. Barbara Smith said. The Churchville resident worked on a landscape painting as she stood outside the tent for the Harford Artists' Association, but she noted the heat made it harder to paint.Attendees who were newcomers said they had been curious about the longtime event and came away pleasantly surprised."It's a lot larger than I thought it would be," Mike Walock said, adding he thought it would be similar to Havre de Grace's Art Show. He moved about a year ago from Texas to Abingdon with Jennifer Biladeau and their young children, Amelia and Owen.Although the couple did not buy anything at the festival, Walock said it was "nice" and was "something fun to do on a Sunday."Mary Scrocca and her daughter, Erin, were also first-timers and said they only left because they ran out of money. The two moved to Forest Hill from about 50 miles north of New York City, where they said they did not have similar art festivals.The women bought "things for the house," pottery and Christmas and birthday gifts, Mary Scrocca said."We loved it, spent too much," she said.Allen and Sandra Lloyd, of Churchville, meanwhile, have been attending the event for years and came away with a large Americana painting, among other items.""We got some pottery and jewelry and so forth, started a little Christmas shopping," Sandra Lloyd said.She thought the event "has good quality," while Allen Lloyd called it "a nice community event."He said he usually buys items from Judy Wells, of Nottingham, Pa., who sells various hand-painted art using items like old shutters."She is very talented. There's a lot of talented folks here," Allen Lloyd said.