The city of gearing up for all the fun and festivities that comes with TroyFest.

The two-day celebration of art begins this Saturday at 9 a.m. and will include dozens of vendors and artists, student art exhibits, an Alabama International Film Festival showcase, do-it-yourself kids building projects and much more.

Amanda Hahn, vendor chair, said the festival will be one to remember.

“We’ll have a gallery of fine arts and crafts,” Hahn said. “It’s a juried fine arts show that offers an assortment of hand-crafted and original paintings, pottery, jewelry, photography, sculptures and traditional and functional crafts.”

Hahn said the main draw for the TroyFest is the arts and crafts, but there’s also a kid’s corner available to children, as well as a few other attractions children are sure to enjoy.

“Kids of all ages are welcome to browse and Lowe’s will be providing children with their own building material to build bird houses and other crafts,” Hahn said. “There will also be a live petting zoo and the ever-popular Boll-Weevil train.”

Hahn said another popular attraction for this year’s TroyFest is the food available.

“We always have a specific area for food and there’s always a variety of different foods,” Hahn said. “We have funnel cakes this year, as well as Italian ice, fresh lemonade and ribbon fries, as well as several other delicious treats.”

With everything that goes into making TroyFest “happen,” Hahn said it is important not to overlook the volunteers that make the fun possible.

Staci Hutto, volunteer coordinator for TroyFest, said without the help of the volunteers the festival might not be possible.

“The volunteers are very, very important,” Hutto said. “TroyFest would not be successful without the volunteers.”

Hutto said the number of volunteers for TroyFest this year exceed 100 people and continues to grow on a daily basis.

“The volunteers sign up for different time slots and help with the set-up, vendor hospitality, and help to run our kid’s corner. It wouldn’t be as organized or as successful without them.”

Hutto said the latest number of volunteers is around 120 people, composed of Troy University students, several students from local-area middle schools and high schools, as well as members of the Pike Leadership group “Young Professionals.”

“These wonderful people will be participating as volunteers to make TroyFest happen this weekend,” Hutto said.

Hutto said even though she has many volunteers, more volunteers are always welcome.

“We can always use more for sure,” Hutto said. “We definitely have needs to fill the early morning hours on Saturday and the closing down of the festival late Sunday afternoon.”

TroyFest will begin this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will resume the fun and festivities on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for this year’s TroyFest, then visit the TroyFest website (www.troyfest.com), click on the “Want to volunteer?” tab on the left-hand side, sign up on the electronic application and send it to Staci Hutto at sdhutto@troy.edu.