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Geared toward helping children read, the Andalusia Coterie Club has announced the 49th Annual Storybook Festival will take place Saturday, April 9 at Springdale Estate.

Gates will open at 9 a.m. with stories and performances set to start at 10 a.m.

“Storybook Festival is Coterie’s give back to the community event and our way of helping promote reading,” Mellisa King said.

Several activities will be available for the public to participate in. “Before the stories, there will be a bounce house, crafts, balloons, and concessions. Admission is free. The only thing that requires money is the concessions,” Destiny Smith said.

Concessions will consist of cookies, fruit, and juice.

Representatives are grateful of the opportunity to bring this event to Andalusia each year.

“Coterie’s main focus is giving back to children in our community, and reading is a vital part of their life. This is an event that has staying power in the memories of children for years to come. The event is always full of smiles and laughter and fosters a healthy love for books and the stories you find in them,” Smith said.

It is unclear how and when the Storybook Festival got started. “The Coterie Club, which has been in existence since the 1940s, started the event. We aren’t sure who had the idea in the club to get it started,” Kelley White Nolan said.

“The Coterie Club meets to discuss the individuals chosen to read stories. Usually, some of us have seen or heard others perform, and we reach out to them,” King said. “There are several groups and organizations in our community that have a heart for this festival and look forward to the opportunity to perform,” Smith added.

The importance of the annual event means a lot to the Coterie Club. “We love the Storybook Festival because we get to see all of the children enjoy these stories. Reading and the interaction is very important to our children. They are our future,” King said.

This will be the first year of returning to the new normal since the pandemic shut everything down.

“We are excited that we get to have the Storybook Festival this year. We love this event and are glad to be able to offer it to the community again. Nik Bass is building a Little Free Library that Coterie is purchasing and going to donate to the Dream Park at LBW. We will fill it with books from the stories at Storybook Festival for kids to be able to read while at the park. We are going to have a book dedication the day of our event,” Smith said.

The Coterie Club used the same sponsors who were in place for the 2020 event, which was ultimately cancelled due to COVID.

“We didn’t ask for sponsors this year because we had these sponsorships held from before. We would like to thank Palmer and Sons, Pilot Club of Andalusia, Andalusia Dental Group, James Gang Amusements, Spurlin Accounting, Southeast Gas, CCB, Covington Electric, and Wal-Mart for making the 49th annual Storybook Festival possible,” King said.

For more information call Mellisa King at 334-504-1469.