The semester is over and it’s time to unwind.

If a variety of good music and tasty food is what you want, look no further.

The seventh annual Sacramento Heritage Festival will be held June 3 and 4 from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Camp Pollock, located at Northgate Blvd. and Garden Highway, along the north shores of the American River.

The festival began in 1994 with 42 bands and 500 people in the crowd. This year it has grown to over 120 bands and 8,000 people are expected to attend, said Mike Balma, a member of the board of directors for the festival.

“In 1994, when we saw that the Blues Festival was not going to happen again, we wanted to do something different and incorporate more than just blues music,” Balma said.

This year, there will be 10 stages, each with a different kind of music. The types of music range from blues, jazz, rock, metal, alternative, hip hop and gospel. There will also be a stage for disc jockeys and turntablists all day long.

Jason Mahon, a member of the Sacramento alternative band, 7th Standard, said, “We played last year and we had a good time. We’re looking forward to having a later time-slot this year so we can attract a big crowd.”

Each stage is set up facing a different direction so the music doesn’t run together. There are two main stages that face each other but take turns playing.

“When one is setting up, the other is playing and as soon as they’re done the other band starts up,” Balma said.

Most of the 120 bands are local, but some are out of town acts.

Over 300 volunteers run the show. The Sacramento Heritage Festival is a non-profit organization and all proceeds go into a fund to buy music equipment for local schools.

“We generally try to choose one high school, one middle school and a special education school to buy instruments for,” Bill Osborne, Sacramento Heritage Festival volunteer coordinator, said.

No ice chests or outside food are allowed into the festival, but there will be plenty of interesting concession stands with food for sale.

“We try to get food that is handmade rather than mass produced,” Osborne said. “You won’t find state fair food like hotdogs and cotton candy here.”

There will also be handmade and natural crafts for sale.

Mass transportation is encouraged to avoid parking hassles and to spare the air. The back of each ticket provides a pass to ride the Regional Transit System during the day of the event. A free shuttle bus will run non-stop service to and from the festival from the Globe RT station.

For a complete listing of the bands performing, check out the website at www.sacheritagefest.com. Tickets for the festival are $10 for each day and can be purchased at most Tower locations. Seniors and children under age 12 are free. For ticket or volunteer position information, call (916) 481-2583.