The Troy Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Pike County Chamber of Commerce recently announced that the Jean Lake Festival will now become TroyFest. The newly renamed festival will be held April 5th in downtown Troy.

"We believe the new location and new name will better reflect what we would like this event to be," said Dawn Railey, chairperson for this year's event.

"We are expanding the scope of our artists to include more arts and crafts, as well as an expanded children's area and more entertainment.

However, we still plan to recognize Jean Lake and her contributions to primitive art.

This festival will be in her memory."

Another change this year will be the fact that the festival will be open to the public at no charge.

"Moving the festival to downtown was something our committee has wanted to do, but it would be logistically impossible to control admission," said Jenniffer Barner, President of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce.

"We hope that not charging admission will encourage more people to attend.

The larger crowds will attract more vendors each year and allow us to grow this event into a regional attraction."

Applications for TroyFest are now being accepted.

You may contact Dawn Railey to request an application packet, reserve a booth, schedule your group for entertainment, or to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

Ms. Railey may be reached at (334) 670-3838 or by email at drailey@troyst.edu.

TroyFest information may also be obtained by calling the Pike County Chamber of Commerce at (334)566-2294. The website address is www.troyfest.com.