“Please come out and support our volunteer fireman,” Mayor Elizabeth Ann Jeter of Forest Hill said.
The annual Louisiana Nursery Festival in Forest Hill, located near the Red River Bank downtown, off Highway 112, will celebrate its 35th festival this weekend, March 18, to March 20. The festival began 37 years ago to benefit the volunteer fireman in the village. It has been cancelled twice over its history.
Last week, Jeter said they were still accepting booth applications. She had 120 scheduled and expected by the time the festival arrived, there would be between 150 and 200 booths featuring a variety of items from food items and wood working to soaps, candles, etc.
There is no cover charge to visit the festival. Jeter said parking is available. She said property owners are generous and allow festival goers to park around the festival grounds.
The carnival, which opens on Thursday, March 17, will feature bracelets from 5-10 p.m. Advance bracelets, sold at the trailer by the Red River Bank, will be $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Advance tickets will be sold until March 17.
Carnival bracelets also will be used from 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 12 noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday, the carnival will open at 12 noon and close at 11 p.m.
Those wishing to visit booths can do so Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A parade will roll downtown at 10 a.m. Anyone wishing to participate has to be there for lineup at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Forest Hill Elementary School, which is located across from the carnival. Entry fee is free.
The bank will host a red trailer on the grounds as an information booth. T-shirts will be sold for $15 each all weekend.
For more information, visit the festival on Facebook™ at Louisiana Nursery Festival.
Mayor Jeter said besides the booths, the village’s retail stores and nurseries will be open for business.
And the village will have law enforcement officers posted around town to assist anyone. Jeter said EMTs and the ambulance service will be standing by town hall in case an emergency arises.
Jeter said the support is appreciated. Without the festival, she said fire equipment and other needs would not be available to the volunteer fire department. Anyone needed information can call 318-748-6300.
