The village of Chittenango is celebrating the return of a popular festival this weekend that has been around more than four decades. The 45th annual Oz-Stravaganza takes place this weekend to celebrate the birthplace of Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum.

Meanwhile, one Central New York woman has put her heart into helping make the festival a success for many years.

“It’s really great to see all the excitement in people. This was my community, this was our thing, and I wanted to do something to help.” Oz-Stravaganza Festival Director Colleen Zimmer.

Zimmer, 1971 Chittenango High School graduate, has had a passion for her community and the Wizard of Oz for a long time.

“It doesn’t matter where you go, everybody knows the Wizard of Oz,” she said.

The iconic work was penned in 1899 by Baum and adapted into the classic 1939 movie, "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland as "Dorothy."

In May of 1978, then village historian Clara Houck decided to host a small birthday party to celebrate Baum’s life and his popular book. That party later became an annual festival and in 1985, Zimmer was asked to get involved.

“I was approached by someone that was on the committee that said, ‘hey Colleen, you’ve got three young kids right now. Wouldn’t this be a fun thing to do?' And, I said, 'sure,'” she said.

Colleen joined the OzFest committee and for 37 years she has put her heart into a festival that she helped grow. From costume contests, entertainment and a large parade, OzFest had it all and more Oz fans started visiting Chittenango for the festival every year, even the stars of the movie itself.

“Minehardt Raabe was the very first munchkin and he contacted us and said, 'hey, I was a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz. Would you like me to come to your festival?' And, it was like, “yeah!” said Zimmer.

After that, several of the original munchkins in the movie would came Chittenango to sign autographs were part of the weekend that would later be known as Oz-Stravaganza.

“Margaret Pellegrini, and Fern Formica, and Clarence Swenson, and Karl Slover, and we kept bringing in more and more," she said.

Soon, Chittenango would sort of become the Oz capital as many would come from all over the world.

“We attract 25,000-30,000 people that come to Chittenango throughout the three days," she said.

Zimmer is the vice president of the non-profit "All Things Oz" museum, which is open year round in the village. It’s jam packed with not only artifacts and history on the movie, but includes many more collectibles from spin-offs.

Visit the village and you’ll know you’re in the right spot when you see the yellow brick sidewalk. Zimmer says, for a festival that like so many others that had to be put on hold these last few years, it’s certainly nice to have it back again for its 45th year.

“We’re so excited to be back and to be out and enjoy this festival and to celebrate Oz in Chittenango,” Zimmer said. “I see this festival going on for a long long time,” she said.

This year’s festival runs June 3-5 and includes a full lineup, including the annual parade through the village on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.