LAPLACE – Oak Alley Plantation will be the site this Saturday, April 22, of the first annual Car and Bike Show, sponsored by the River Parishes Tourist Commission.

Tourism Commission Director Jesse Lambert said the new event is something that is part of the plan to help revive the tourism business in the River Region.

Since Hurricane Katrina, plantation business is running near the 10 percent range of what it had been before the storm.

The Car and Bike Show is being put together as a family event, that includes lots of door prizes, music, a plantation tour and plenty of other fun.

&#8220We’re really making it like a festival event, although on a small scale,” Lambert said. &#8220The intent is to promote the area, and get people to be tourists in their own backyard.”

Each year the Car and Bike Show will rotate to different plantations in the area.

The event begins this Saturday at 9 a.m. and runs all day until 4 p.m. at the Oak Alley site in Vacherie on the West Bank.

There will be classy, restored antique cars and motorcycles, with antique vehicles coming from all over South Louisiana.

Prizes will be given for Best Interior, Best Paint, Top Ten Automobiles, Top Five Bikes and Best of Show.

There will be food from top area restaurants and live music by the band Local Option 2 from 11 to 3 p.m. Local craftsmen and vendors will display handmade crafts and gifts.

Tickets are $2 for adults, with children under 12 getting in for free.

Tours of the Oak Allen Plantation mansion and grounds will be available for a reduced price of $8 per person.

The show is sponsored by Entergy, Valero, Coke, Bourgets of the South, Rainbow Chevrolet, Andouille Festival, Bulls Corner, St. James Parish Economic Development, Schexnayder Financial, News on Wheels, the River Parishes Tourist Commission, and Oak Alley.

For more information, call the Tourist Commission at 888-376-6923 or check their website at takemetotheriver.com.