Natchitoches, LA – The Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce, City of Natchitoches, and Natchitoches Historic District Business Association (HDBA) today announce the collaborative transition of the Christmas Festival from the Chamber to the HDBA.
For fifteen years, the Natchitoches Area Chamber of Commerce has been the steward of the Festival, working with the City of Natchitoches to put on the event that has grown from a one-day celebration to a multiple-weekend festival that now brings more than 500,000 people to Natchitoches during the six weeks of the holiday season. As the Festival has grown, Chamber leadership has found it more and more difficult to balance the workload between Festival planning and daily Chamber operations.
‘Working with the City of Natchitoches, the Chamber has provided the planning and logistics for fireworks, entertainment, the parades, vendors and more for fifteen years. We are proud of the role the Chamber has played in this Festival over the years, but feel it is time now to focus our energies exclusively on our members, member services, and economic development for our Parish,’ said 2012 Chairman of the Board Herman Mayeux.
‘We [HDBA] are excited and look forward to coordinating closely with the City, the Chamber and the community to ensure that the Natchitoches Christmas Festival gets better each year. With a great network of volunteers and many new ideas, HDBA not only brings a fresh energy to Festival planning, we also bring successful experience in other Festivals,’ said President Phyllis Stroud about the transition.
Under the leadership of newly sworn-in Mayor Lee Posey, the City administration is prepared to continue to provide the many resources needed to make Natchitoches ‘The City of Lights’, and with great volunteer ideas and fresh faces, the future of the Natchitoches Christmas Festival and the Natchitoches community has never been brighter!
For more information on the 2012 Christmas Festival Season, call 318-352-6894