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Tiffany Parker found lots of things she and her two children liked at the 28th annual Celebrate Gaithersburg festival on Sunday. Her children, Troy, 8, and Tiffany, 3, enjoyed games and food while she found something for herself.

"I found me some earrings. They're personally handmade. You won't see another pair like them," said Parker, who moved to Gaithersburg last year from Baltimore. Parker said the free activities brought her to the festival.

City officials said they could not estimate how many people enjoyed free music, animal exhibits, games and lots of food. Vendors not only competed for customers' attention, they competed to see who had the best food at the Taste of Gaithersburg. The Melting Pot beat Bruster's Real Ice Cream and Redrock Canyon Grill for bragging rights in the Best Bite competition, said Gaithersburg recreation coordinator Nansie Wilde.

Mayor Sidney A. Katz, city council members Cathy Drzyzgula, Michael A. Sesma, Jud Ashman and Henry F. Marraffa Jr., Del. Luiz R. S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17), Del. Kumar Barve (D-Dist. 17), Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) and Sen. Nancy King (D-Dist. 39) judged the competition.

Michael and Valerie Lindsay of Rockville brought daughters Gabby, 3, and Ally, 1, and saw an albino Burmese python at Reptiles Alive and live starfish, snails and a hermit crab at Ocean in Motion, among other stops. The aquarium and reptile exhibits, two replica palm trees to climb, and several vendors and exhibits promoting environmental safe products and recycling made up the Green Zone.

"We always look for things to do on the weekends," Valerie said.

"The timing was good," she said. "This tired them out."

More than 600 people visited the Ocean in Motion display, said Cari Paulenich, an employee with the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach. The traveling display featured a walk-through aquarium filled with fish and mollusks found in the Chesapeake Bay, she said. Visitors could touch live starfish, hermit crab and snails on a table outside the aquarium.

"A lot of people are surprised to know we have starfish in the Chesapeake Bay," Paulenich said. "It's good people came out and got to learn about things close to home they may not have found out otherwise."

Wilde said the people she talked to "said it was a lot of fun and there was a lot to do." She considered the event a success.

Jonathan Thompson of Gaithersburg agreed.

"You can't beat the great weather, food and fun," Thompson said after taking a sip of lemonade. "There's no separation, everybody is here having fun."