SARATOGA SPRINGS — In only its second year, the Saratoga ArtsFest is already a community staple.

Last year’s inaugural festival featured 34 events, including visual arts exhibits and performances in dance, theater and music. This year, 108 events fill the three-day schedule from Friday to Sunday.

“We felt that last year was very successful,” said Marie Glotzbach, president of the ArtsFest board.

Local businesses have jumped on the event as a way to attract customers as well.

The ARTSPASS that grants people admission to arts events this weekend also offers them discounts at some local businesses. Double the number of businesses have signed on to give those discounts to festival-goers, said Christel MacLean, who is a member of both the Downtown Business Association and the ArtsFest boards.

“People really got excited about it. So this year when we went out to talk to them, it was a very easy sell to sign people up to be a part of it.”

Last year, there were 39 businesses offering discounts; this year, that number has jumped to 80.

Restaurants and a variety of local shops and galleries are offering discounts, MacLean said. “Even the chains have gotten involved, which is rare.”

And there are more events for children this year, as well, Glotzbach said.

ArtsFest attracts regional and national artists as well as showcasing local artists, Glotzbach said. “It’s based on the strength of our local artists.”

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau have got on board with the event, believing that the festival will attract more people to Saratoga Springs.

And like First Night, which flourished here while it died in Albany, ArtsFest will attract people who would rather attend an event when it’s in Saratoga.

“I think people are drawn to Saratoga, and that’s part of what makes the ArtsFest possible and successful,” Glotzbach said.

She expects the number of venues to remain stable next year, but said the festival could take more attendees. “We’re close to what we think will be the standard size. With this current size, we could still have more participation.”

Last year, the festival brought in 1,000 attendees. Glotzbach doesn’t know how many to expect this weekend.

The idea for a community arts festival was born about seven years ago, but didn’t get off the ground until Skidmore College took the initiative last year to head up the event.

“It’s a remarkable story in collaboration,” Glotzbach said, noting that widely different arts organizations have worked together to make the event a success.

Now Saratoga ArtsFest is its own entity.

Passes for the event are currently for sale at the ArtsFest Gallery at 328 Broadway and on the Web at www.saratogaartsfest.org.

The cost is $30 for adults, $25 for seniors 65 and over, $15 for military and students, and $5 for children from ages 3-11.

The 108 events are largely indoors, with the exception of the outdoor Paint Out.

Among the offerings this year are performances by jazz piano prodigy Gerald Clayton; the Martha Graham Dance Company; the Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem Alumni Ensemble; award-winning poet and nonfiction writer Honor Moore; the ensemble-based theater group SITI Company; The Equus Projects’ Dancing with Horses; and classical music talent from the Carnegie Hall, ACJW Ensemble.

For a schedule, visit www.saratogaartsfest.org.