Students looking to get away from their hum-drum DeKalb lives and see the world are in luck.

The “Festival of Travel,” the largest gathering of tour operators, cruise lines, hotels and other travel suppliers to ever come to the DeKalb area, is almost here.

The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at South Pointe Centre, at 200 Gurler Road.

Carder Travel Ltd. is sponsoring the event, and Phyllis Carder, president of Carder Travel Ltd., said everyone should come prepared to book his or her dream vacation.

Admission to the festival is $5, a price Carder said is worth paying to experience the day’s events.

More than 35 national travel companies will be represented at the festival, including Walt Disney World, Funjet Vacations and Carnival Cruise Lines. They will be introducing new products to the public and offering bargain prices, Carder said.

There also will be destination videos shown and presentations by various speakers throughout the day. Door prizes, including a trip to Las Vegas, T-shirts, beach bags and a clock will be awarded. A cafe/pub will be available.

Steven Johnson, director of external programming of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also will be at the festival to promote the “Travel with the Professor” program.

According to the external programming Web site, one or more professors go on each trip planned by the program. Each trip usually has about 20 travelers.

“We’re excited to make the program available to the public,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of current and retired faculty and students who go on the trips, but we want the public to know about them and go, too.”

Three “Travel with the Professor” trips are coming up.

Prof. Clark D. Neher will lead a trip to Vienna, Austria, from Dec. 27 through Jan. 5. Prof. Jay A. Stravers will lead a trip to Copper Canyon, Mexico, from March 9 to 16, and Prof. Ross D. Powell will be leading a trip to Alaska from June 2 to 13.

Many NIU students would like to travel but are concerned about high prices.

“I like to travel, to see new and exciting places. I want to go to Europe, but I don’t have a lot of money,” sophomore biochemistry major Erin Goken said. “I’d be interested in going to the ‘Festival of Travel’ though because it sounds like fun, and maybe I can get some tips about how to travel cheaper.”

Carder said she hopes a lot of people will take advantage of the festival and thinks the day will be a success.