Things for FloydFest 8 were about as perfect as event organizers could have dreamed -- until about 8:10 p.m. Friday.

That was when most of the grounds went dark. The next hour and a half answered the question: What happens when a large, electricity-driven music festival way out in the sticks loses power?

The answers came quickly: Bands at stages small enough for intimacy went acoustic. As folks wandered away from the main stage, groups of musicians seized on the chance to strap on their instruments and perform along the main trail. Listeners gathered in circles around them, some in crowds four and five deep.

Blacksburg-based, Bakersfield-style country band 3 Minute Lovin' was playing the dance stage when the power went off. Band members quickly went acoustic, picking and singing their original song, "Ghost in This House," and some cover tunes.

Boulder Acoustic Society sang through the beer garden's monitor speaker system, hooked up to a generator and pointed at the crowd, doing a rollicking, klezmer-style version of Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm." Two tiki torches lit the act.

Holy Ghost Tent Revival, which earlier had played an energetic and musically wild set at the beer garden, commandeered a spot across the main trail from the garden and commenced to rocking. Listeners jumped and screamed with them. Toubab Krewe played African drums in the dark at the Hill Holler stage.

Only the world village stage, a bit remote from the rest of the grounds, remained on the power grid. Roanoke-based Electric Chameleon stretched out its set for the people wandering down that way, guitarist Joey Dennis said.

"We got really lucky with that one," Dennis said.

Some food vendors and other booths already using their own power sources served lines of customers looking to get some grub in the dark.

Organizers and volunteers worked quickly to inform and reassure guests, while others went about finding the source of the blackout and getting it corrected.

By 9:40 p.m., the lights were back on. Main-stage hands who had already cranked up about 50,000 watts of generator power switched back to the grid. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals hit the main stage just before 10 p.m. to play a long set of often brilliant original soul, blues and rock music to the big and patient crowd.

Erika Johnson, who with partner Kris Hodges founded the festival, walked into the administrative trailer to put away the bullhorn she'd used to let guests know what was happening and what to expect. Johnson had never used a megaphone before. She was clearly relieved to be done with the whole snafu.

"After that, everything else is small potatoes," Johnson said, smiling.

Site photographer Ty Brady, walking the power line with festival communications head Linda DeVito, discovered a blown fuse on a pole less than a quarter-mile from the action. The failure also had affected a few nearby homes.

DeVito said a "friend of the festival" -- who happened to be both on site and be an Appalachian Power employee -- made sure the company was fast to respond to the need for a replacement fuse.

"In hindsight, it was another magical FloydFest moment," Johnson said Saturday.

About 5:15 p.m. Saturday, rain started falling hard for about 30 minutes. Workers pulled out tarps. At the folklife stage, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas combined with the Hot 8 Brass Band and played through it. The Hot 8, from New Orleans, and accordionist/singer Nathan Williams, from Lafayette, La., had seen worse. At least a hundred listeners got soaked and danced along, then followed the Hot 8 on a New Orleans march up the main path.

DeVito said that a wristband count left organizers confident that they had between 11,000 and 12,000 people at the festival from the opening through 10:25 p.m. Saturday when Blues Traveler was headlining the main stage. Last year's total attendance estimate was 12,000. The festival continues today.

The thousands at the site have heard great music, including main stage headliners Panjea on Thursday and Potter on Friday, while getting a mixture of hot sun and cooling breezes that kept things relaxing. No serious incidents had been reported to police or emergency workers.

"This is our biggest year," Johnson said. "It's been going so smoothly, I thought to myself, things were going too well."

It was nothing a little power outage couldn't fix.