The Selma Lions Club is serving up food and fun at the club’s first Central Alabama Crawfish Festival.

The festival, set to take place Saturday, April 11 from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. at Lions Fair Park, will give the community a chance to enjoy a family friendly event while also supporting a worthy cause.

“This is the first year we’re doing it. We just kind of had an idea about getting the crawfish festival back to central Alabama, plus we were trying to [showcase] arts and crafts vendors and bring it all back to Selma and do something great,” said event director Russell Haskell. “That’s when we had the idea [to] just roll it all up in one and have a Central Alabama Crawfish Festival.”

Around 25 vendors will be set up to show off their handmade items during the event, while raising money for the Lions Club and its charitable work in the community.

“The Selma Lions Club does a lot of work with sight conservation, and we administer eye exams for people who need glasses and we also give away glasses for people who can’t afford them,” Haskell said. “This is just another event that we can kind of do to raise money to help the [visually impaired].”

Haskell said fundraisers like the new crawfish festival are vital in the club being able to give back to those in Selma.

“Without the support of the community, we wouldn’t be able to provide glasses and eye exams to people that can’t afford it,” Haskell said. “So we appreciate all the support from the community that we get to be able to raise money and be able to give back to the community.”

The festival will feature live music from Justin Eads, County Road 4, Matthew York and Coustic Chaos. There will also be activities for kids such as pony rides, train rides, a climbing rock wall, face painting and more.

“It’s just a fun, family atmosphere,” Haskell said. “If you miss out, you’ve done missed out.”

The event will take place rain or shine and tickets can be purchased at the gate for $5 for ages 6 and up and free for 5 and under. For more information about the festival, call Haskell at 267-6189.

“With the response that we’ve had right now, we’re already looking at next year’s event. It hasn’t even happened yet, but we already have a big response,” Haskell said. “I can’t wait. We’re all excited about it and can’t wait for Saturday to get here.”