A festival more than a quarter-of-a-century old once again was a big hit in Lansford.

The 27th annual Zoostock was held on the grounds of the former Sports Zoo bar in the 300 block of West Snyder Avenue on Monday.

Eight bands, all of whom volunteered their services, performed at the event which raises funds for the Schuylkill-Carbon Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

Volunteer organizer Lisa Hiles said the first 26 Zoostocks have accumulatively raised about $200,000 for the ACS.

The presentation of the funds to the Cancer Society occurs during the annual ACS telethon held each spring. This year’s amount raised will be announced at the telethon.

Hiles, who is one of the founders of Zoostock, was impressed by the large turnout of people at this year’s event.

“People really showed up early this year,” she said. “The weather is the key factor.”

Everyone working at the festival, from preparing food to selling T-shirts, are volunteers.

Hiles said one thing new this year is a larger food selection. Some of the foods added include sausage and peppers, hot sausage, pickled redbeet eggs, soft pretzels and CMP sundaes.

One of the things which is always popular at Zoostock is the souvenir T-shirts. Every year the shirt is different. Although many people wore this year’s blue-and-white festival shirt, a lot wore shirts they purchased in previous years.

Tom Dobosh of Lansford had a T-shirt on from the first Zoostock in 1979. Unlike the tie-dyed shirts that complemented most of the Zoostocks through the years, the one worn by Dobosh was light gray with navy sleeves and read: “Zoostock: Afternoon of love.”

Dobosh said he has attended every Zoostock and “I think this is one of the best attended ever.”

Bob Silver, a retired business owner in Lansford, said, “It’s another great day for Zoostock.”

He termed Zoostock “a plus — big time” for Lansford. “The best part is you get to come here once a year and see people you never see other times.” He added that the best part of Zoostock is that attendance and the music is free.

“The way they organize Zoostock every year and the awareness they give to cancer is impressive,” said Carbon County Commissioner Michael Sofranko. “There isn’t a family in Carbon County that hasn’t been affected by cancer. These organizers are phenomenal.”

There were several games for young children including corn hole boards and a children’s roulette wheel.

The bands which performed at Zoostock this year are Kyle and Ryan Dunkelberger, Yesterday’s Heroes with Eddie Collins, Hatter, Ricky and the Ricardos, Scratch Tape, The Throwbacks, Sweet Revenge and The Local Boys.