The Lampasas Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce the Fourteenth Annual Herb and Art Festival, Oct. 11. The Herbe and Art Festival will be a fabulous day filled with interesting vendor booths selling a wide selection of herb and art related goodies, food, and informative speakers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The festival will ahve speical children’s area “Kids Thyme.” It will include moonwalks, face painting, along with demonstrations on recycling and composting with free handouts and seed packets. There will be pumpkins and cookies for the children to decorate and enter in the “best dressed pumpkin and cookie contest.”

Children will be invited to gather in front of the bandstand to go “digging in a haystack” for prizes and treats. The Kiddie Express Train will be on hand to add some extra fun and entertainment.

The Keystone Square Museum is located on Western Street and will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They will be hosting the annual Little Wrangler Round-up at 9 a.m. For more information call the Keystone Museum at (512) 556-2224.

The featured Bandstand Speakers are as follows:

• 9 a.m. - Lawn and Garden Nemesis and How to Deal with Them, Lampasas County Extension Agent

• 10 a.m. - Sweetie: 4 Herbal Delights to Make for the Table and Body, Rowena Fengel

• 11 a.m. - Natural Remedies for Pain Management, Shari Anderson Kilman, Clinical Herbalist. As a clincial herbalist, Shari enjoys the history of herbal medicine, applying ages old and respected plant remeies to a wide array of health challenges.

• Noon - Herbal Cooking with Wildtree Herbs, Leah Crawford, Wildtree Herbs Independent Consulant. Wildtree Herbs is a company dedicated to the promise that all food should be natural, nutritious, delicious, and easy to prepare - all the time. The products are made with the finest ingredients available and contain no preservatives, additives, MSGs, dyes or artificial flavors.

• 1 p.m. - Herbs 101: Back to the Basics, Judy Barrett, publisher of Homegrown Magazine. The magazine features both timely and timeless information for Texas gardeners. Homegrown shows how to garden successfully and enjoyably while having a positive impact on the environment. Good sense organic gardening for Texas.

• 2 p.m. - “Contain Yourself” Growing Herbs and Vegetables in Containers, Randa Daude, owner of Oma’s Garten Pflanzen. A unique plant nursery in Killeen dedicated to organic gardening. Randa is a master gardener with vast experience.

• 3 p.m. - “Old Thyme” Remedies from your Kitchen and Garden, Shari Anderson Kilman, Clinical Herbalist. Shari is the owner of Omni Star Farm in Boerne. The farm is dedicated to the cultivation, study, and teaching of herbal healing.

• 4 p.m. - Organized Chaos, directed by D’Ann Willis

The festival will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 on the Courtyard Square in historic downtown Lampasas. Many food and beverage vendors as well as local restaurants will be on hand for hungry visitors.

With a variety of arts and crafts, herbs, Texas native plants, antique roses, herbal foods, demonstrations, gardening items, grasses, seminars, musical performance, children’s activities and much more, the Lampasas Herb and Art Festival offers something for everyone.

Come out to shop, learn, eat, or simply enjoy a beautiful Lampasas day.

For more information regarding the 2008 Herb and Art Festival, please contact the Lampasas County Chamber of Commerce at (512) 556-5172, toll free at 1-866-556-5172. More information can be obtained by email at lampasaschamber@sbcglobal.net or visit the Web site at www.lampasaschamber.org.