There was no holiday off for those working hard to put together this year's Ithaca Festival. Tamara Lindstrom caught up with the team working out all the last minute details. She tells us what's new for 2012.

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ITHACA, N.Y. -- With just days before the event kicks off, the staff of the Ithaca Festival opted to forgo the holiday for some last minute preparations.

"Making sure everybody has all the information that they need so they'll be in the right place at the right time for the festival," said Ithaca Festival program director Marie DeMott Grady.

More than 30,000 people are expected in downtown Ithaca for the four day celebration of art and music. It all starts Thursday with the much loved parade.

"We've got some really exciting entries," DeMott Grady said. "And with the luau theme, we've got some really exciting floats. There are a lot of floats that people are putting together and costumes and stuff. So people are really going to town with that."

And what would a luau be without a pig roast and hula dancers?

"Nearly two months now, they've been getting ready to perform. So they'll be at the festival and also they'll perform at the farmer's market, because on Friday night there's going to be a Sim Redmond concert."

This year, the event will sprawl though downtown in some new venues and will return to DeWitt Park. Organizing the festival is a year-long task, but one well worth the effort.

"The purpose is just to get together with our friends and our families and celebrate the place that we live in," DeMott Grady said. "It's a time to be grateful and have fun."

And with more than 150 performing groups lined up to entertain, the celebration will be hard to miss.

The festival is free, but purchasing a five dollar button helps organizers pay for the cost.

To see the entire calendar of events, visit www.ithacafestival.org.