As one of the largest music festivals in the country, Musikfest has a records book with some fairly substantial numbers.

Thirty-five years of performances. An expected attendance of 900,000-plus people. More than 500 shows scheduled on 16 stages across Bethlehem.

But the lifeblood of the popular Lehigh Valley gathering resides in this number: 1,500.

That is the number of ArtsQuest volunteers who will be taking tickets, pouring drinks and setting up the stages at this year’s festival.

Thirteen people have served as volunteers for each of Musikfest’s 35 years of celebration. Twelve of those 13 people are Bethlehem residents. Whitehall’s Bill Watson is the lone exception.

Watson began volunteering in 1984 when his wife worked for First National Bank, which was a major sponsor of the event at that time. His first volunteer duty was pouring beer at one of the festival’s beer gardens.

Since then, Watson has seen just about everything that the festival has to offer. In addition to serving beer, he has worked as an usher, been a part of the stage setup and takedown crew and currently volunteers on the Eco Team at the Sands Steel Stage.

“I’ve done it all,” Watson said. “I enjoy working on the Eco Team right now because I get to see the big performances.”

Watson, who works as a lead designer for Mack Trucks, Allentown, is a country music fan. His favorite recent show was when Keith Urban came to Bethlehem in 2014.

But the most memorable performance in Watson’s eyes came in the festival’s third year. In 1986, a pop-up thunderstorm caused havoc for unprepared fans at The Turtles’ show.

“The skies just opened up and sent everyone running,” Watson said.

This year’s Musikfest will run Aug. 2-12. Watson and the other 35-year volunteers will be honored at the Marcincin Awards ceremony on opening night.

If you are looking for a food recommendation, who better to ask than someone who has attended the festival for the past 35 years?

“I always head to Volks- platz for the halupki,” he said, “and Festplatz for the German strudel.”