This year's Age of Aquarius Festival in Butler will be a treat for members of the Baby Boomer generation as they relive sights and sounds of the exciting, albeit turbulent, 1960s.

But the nine-day local event, which will begin Friday, also should be a magnet to many of today's young people who, despite the different musical sounds with which they have grown up, also have built an appreciation of some of the sounds and happenings of three or four decades ago.

The performance by the band Iron Butterfly at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Succop Theater at Butler County Community College will be a fitting climax to the festival. Most of the festival activities will be centered at the Associated Artists of Butler County Art Center at 344 S. Main St.

Last year's festival, the first of its kind in the city, attracted people from as far away as Florida and California. This year's event could have the same result because of the Pennsylvania Tourism Bureau's help in promoting the festival.

The state tourism bureau is publicizing the festival as a featured-destination event for January in its Cabin Fever promotional series.

As Larry Sassone, Associated Artists president, explained it in an article in the Focus section of Sunday's Butler Eagle, the tourism bureau did a site visit to the art center and "we had to demonstrate our willingness and professionalism to be considered a state tourism event. Apparently we convinced them."

For the city, the event will be important from the standpoint of economic benefit to downtown merchants, and for introducing the city and its surrounding area to first-time visitors. At the time of such an event, one can never fathom what possibilities eventually might come the city's way based on that introduction, including from the arts perspective.

The New Year's Eve Ring in the Arts event, followed by this midwinter celebration, is helping to enhance Butler's image as the place to be to eradicate the wintertime blahs, also known as cabin fever.

It is to be hoped that the better-than-normal weather of the past month or so will continue through the festival, but even if it doesn't there will be much to see and hear including an Andy Warhol exhibit, a rendition of "Hair" performed by students of Pittsburgh's Point Park University, musical impersonators and other live entertainment and activities.

Reflecting on last year's festival, Sassone said, "For me, the best part was making new friends and sharing old memories." Other who attended no doubt had similar sentiments.

This year's bigger-and-better festival should help strengthen the foundation for future festivals of its kind, not only for boomers but for everyone else.