NEWPORT-After a year absence, the annual Herb Fest is returning to Cocke County.

This year's event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 7, at the home of Mary Dunn at 141 Washington Ave. in Newport.

"Hazel Walker and I started this back in 1995," said Dunn. "We created it to get more community interest in herbs.

"Hazel usually hosts the one in the spring and I host the one in the fall. We skipped last year but we got several requests to bring it back.

"We do this as service. It's free to vendors and we try to have children's activities to get them interested."

Dunn said the herb for this year's event is bay leaf.

"We just invite and encourage everyone to attend," she said.