BATON ROUGE - Put on your reading glasses and get your creative juices flowing - the Louisiana Book Festival is free to the public and is held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"You get this really awesome way to interact with all these great authors and you can find so many authors you didn't know about and that's why we get so many people year after year," State Librarian Meg Placke said.

The festival will be a celebration for the state's readers, writers and their books, with over 200 participants signed up.

One author recalls the moment he was invited to this year's festival.

"How did it feel when you got asked to be here? I didn't dance but I probably sang a little tune," Phil Oakley said.

Oakley, who has been writing since his freshman year in college and just released his ninth book entitled "Little Hatchet," will be speaking at the festival and says it is a huge honor. 

"It's a character study into the most amazing people I've met in a very long lifetime: my grandparents," Oakley said about his new book.

Avid readers can gather at the Louisiana State Library and the surrounding Capital Park area to participate in the fun. Next year's event is already in the works too.

"We've started inviting authors, and getting together and thinking about who will come to our next festival before this one even ends. It's a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun," Placke said.

For the event schedule, click here.