The last weekend in April is traditionally Troy Fest time in downtown Troy, and this year is no exception, said Morgan Drinkard, Troy Fest 2017 publicity chair.

“This year, we’ll kick off Troy Fest on Thursday night with a big party on the square,” Drinkard said. “POPulus, a popular Troy University band, will be the featured entertainment and we invite everyone to be a part of this communitywide event as we kickoff another great weekend of arts, crafts, entertainment, kids games, food, fun and fellowship.”

The Troy Fest kickoff event will begin at 7 p.m. and those who attend are invited to bring a picnic or a take out and enjoy the fun and fellowship of an outdoor concert.

“We’ll have Troy Fest 2017 T-shirts available for sale at the kickoff event,” Drinkard said. “A lot of people like to get their T-shirts ahead of time so they can wear them to Troy Fest on Saturday and Sunday.”

Drinkard said 88 art and craft vendors have been confirmed so Troy Fest will be a great place to shop for unique items for home and/or for gifts.

“This year we have a great selection of jewelry, so much that we had to cap off jewelry applications early,” Drinkard said. “We have some new and very outstanding new vendors and most all of the ‘oldies and goodies.’ We have paintings, glasswork, woodwork, pottery and a variety of functional items. We’ll have a kids’ area that will be a lot of fun so parents can bring their kids. Troy Fest is fun for the entire family.”

The entertainment stage will feature SheBANG! and the First Baptist Church Choir and Ensemble on Saturday and the Southern Baton Company on Sunday.

As always, there will be festival foods available and the weather is predicted to be warm and sunny and picture perfect for an outdoor art and craft festival.

Admission to Troy Fest is free so everyone is encouraged to plan now to be a part of yet another great event in downtown Troy. Troy Fest gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29 and will continue on Sunday with wind down around 4 p.m.

Troy Fest is yet another “don’t miss” event in Pike County and everyone is invited.