The event was held at Antlers on the Water in Williamsport, on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 11 a.m. until late into the evening.

The event featured a line up of local musicians and artists that traveled from West Virginia and Alabama. The audience was made up of 350 festival goers that came as families with children; couples of all ages and backgrounds visited food trucks and played games.

Merchants were on hand at tables to greet the music fans, while workers and volunteers in black “Silence that Stays” t-shirts raced around on foot and on golf carts.

As the musicians performed, they did so on a stage built by JHM Construction with the backdrop of the Susquehanna River and the mountains of South Williamsport behind them. The music was a cross between classic rock, country, Americana and folk. Across from the stage was a pavilion with tables with blue plastic table clothes and flowers.

D. EVERETT SMITH/FOR THE EXPRESS One of the performances at Sound that Stays is pictured during the festival.

Festival goers sat in folding chairs, many wore t-shirts celebrating music or Jersey Shore pride.

Performers included Troy Love along with Williamsport’s Uptown Music Collective, the Heartstrings, Gabe Stillman, Justin Jeansonne, Logan Halstead, Cass & The Bailout Crew, Ma’am, Maitland, Sylvan Dell Stragglers and Nathaniel Mowery.

Carly Hines, spokesperson for the event, said Max’s parents, Heather and Josh Engle, asked Hines and her husband, who were cousins to Max, to work together for an idea that could honor his memory.

“Max loved music… so we wanted (an event) to be bigger and better and bring something that this area hasn’t really had before. We have touring acts and local favorites and some of them are Max’s favorites. Some of them are family friends and some of them are traveling,” Hines said.

In a statement, the Engle family said, “When we think about how to possibly thank this community for the unwavering love and support they showed us during the hardest days of our lives, we are filled with gratitude. What better way to honor them than with music and a place where we can all gather, remember and find comfort together?”

D. EVERETT SMITH/FOR THE EXPRESS One of the performances at Sound that Stays is pictured during the festival.

The family further stated, “The Sound That Stays is our way of honoring Max’s life and spirit while giving back to the community he loved. Our hope is to build a festival worthy of Max’s spirit, where music could bring comfort, connection and celebration to all who carry the weight of loss.”

Love, one of the performers and resident of Lycoming County, said he knew Max and the family so he wanted to play because it meant more than the usual performance.

“There’s a bigger feel overall (to this),” Love said. “I’ve been friends with Heather (Engle, Max’s mom) for a long time and my ex-wife was good friends with her and we knew Max.”

He added, “To play for something like this has much more meaning. Music is transcendent. It is something that can bring people of completely different ideologies together. There’s something about music that speaks to the soul of a person.”

Nikki Gough, one of the owners of Antlers, said they were happy for the opportunity to host the event. Max Engle was a former employee of Antlers.

D. EVERETT SMITH/FOR THE EXPRESS The benefit event drew a large crowd of supporters.

“He was such a good kid. He was always laughing and dancing,” she said.

Gough said his orange jersey with the number four still hangs on the hostess stand and two broad wings were painted on one of the sides of the buildings on the Antlers compound.

Gough said that Max was still very much a part of the restaurant and the Antlers family.

Hines, Max’s previously mentioned cousin, said that 100 percent of the “proceeds from the festival will benefit the newly established Maxwell Engle Memorial Organization (MEMO), dedicated to making music education accessible to kids of all ages.”

“(This) first initiative will fund a full-year scholarship for a student at the Uptown Music Collective, a premier nonprofit music school in Williamsport. The organization’s mission is rooted in the belief that music can help young people process emotions, find their voice and connect with others — just as it did for Max,” Hines said.

She added, “The Engle family hopes The Sound That Stays will grow into an annual tradition that not only honors Max’s legacy but also creates a space for others to find comfort, connection, and joy through music.”

Hines later said a portion of the proceeds will be shared with the late Vhito DeCapria’s family. Vhito, a 14-year-old Jersey Shore area teen, passed away in late September.