Both local and national acts descended upon Hangar 9 Saturday for the bar’s annual WelcomeFest.

For the past two years, the bar has featured two annual organized events. SpringFest in the springtime and WelcomeFest in the fall.

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Bands including Jake’s Leg, Cornmeal and SPREAD participated in the event.

“The first WelcomeFest we did was actually the first outdoor, all-day, festival-type event that we’ve done here at the new building,” said Caylan Hill, booking manager at Hangar 9.

Different beer companies support the events. This spring, Shiner Bock acted as sponsor, and the 2013 WelcomeFest found a sponsor in New Belgium, with whom Hill said the bar hoped to expand business beyond that of simply selling its product.

“We approached them because we sell a lot of their product and feel strongly about their company, and feel like they kind of embody the same kind of thing we try to project here,” Hill said.

For this event, Hangar 9 bartender Nina Hurmis said the bar blocks off the parking lots between Hangar 9 and the former site of Pagliai’s Pizza.

“We’re going to have beer tents outside and there will be some vendors,” Hurmis said before the event. “There will be three bands inside and three bands outside.”

Jake’s Leg, Cornmeal and SPREAD were among these six bands, a lineup that also included Swamp Tigers, Team Bayside High and Whistle Pigs.

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“I usually have somewhat of a framework for what I want to try to pursue and a lot of it goes into acts that have done well for us before,” Hill said.”People that we hear that maybe there is some demand for, or acts that we feel like that actually do really well in the market and we want to give them a platform.”

Despite the $12 entry fee, Hangar 9 filled up by early evening with enthusiastic fans. By midnight, music continued to thrive as much as the crowd.

Joe Trunko, bassist for Jake’s Leg, a St. Louis-based Grateful Dead-tribute band, said the band often came to Carbondale in the 1990s, and while they come less frequently, they are still keen on playing the city’s bars.

“The crowds down here are always great,” he said.

Wavy Dave, a banjo player for the Chicago-based bluegrass band Cornmeal, said his band has been performing at Hangar 9 since 2001.

“We love it here; this is our home away from home,” Dave said.

The music continued through the evening, and eventually, when 2 a.m. hit and the lights came up, the crowd was still eager. “Just as long as people show up and support … we are completely motivated to keep doing things like this,” Hill said.