Chuck Wentworth’s fabulous Rhythm & Roots Festival has come a long way since the early days of the Cajun & Bluegrass Festival in the woods of Escoheag.

The expansive Ninegret Park setting in Charleston now hosts four stages of non-stop music, great New England and Cajun food, and music as divergent as the thousands of fans who flock to the park over the Labor Day weekend to listen and dance.

Friday night was filled with popular Rhode Island-based musicians, including Duke Robillard, Roomful of Blues, and the Knickerbocker All Stars.

An overcast Saturday didn’t stop one of the largest festival crowds, with a lineup of Cajun, Zydeco, Rock, Country, Western, and groups like The Huntress and the Holder of Hands, with violin, viola, bass, electric guitar, drums, and a ukulele that defied categorizing.

Saturday night closed with the powerful world-renowned performers – Donna the Buffalo, Taj Mahal, and Lucinda Williams.

On Sunday, the sun shone brightly, with a gentle wind blessing the thousands who paid no attention to threatening weather reports, as afternoon performers including some of the best remaining traditional artists, like Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur, Dave and Phil Alvin, and David Grisman’s sextet, played some of the best acoustic music I’ve ever heard.

The crowd hung around late to hear Bruce Hornsby and then head to the dance tent, where Steve Reilly’s newly formed Orchestra Royal played until midnight, capping of the most diverse and best festivals ever seen in these here parts.