The Christmas Town

Christmas and Natchitoches go hand-in-hand. In most places, Christmas celebrations last for a day or maybe a week at most, but here in THE Christmas town, Christmas starts on the kickoff weekend before Thanksgiving and ends on New Year’s Day. It is just that special.

I remember my first Christmas festival in 1988. I was a Northwestern State University cheerleader marching in the Christmas parade. My cheer partner was the President of Kappa Alpha Fraternity, and he couldn’t wait to get to the KA house on the parade route for his favorite party of the year. From that very first Christmas festival I knew I would never miss one. Years later, I married a Natchitoches native and I have so far fulfilled that promise.

Describing Natchitoches is hard to do. We are a college town, an historic town, and a tourist town with tons of rich history and traditions. On any given day, we are a city of about 25,000 people, but during the month of December we easily reach 100,000. I recently heard someone describe visiting NSU and Natchitoches in this way: “Once you hit the railroad tracks, they’ve got you.” I can’t think of anything more true.

At NSU, we do personalized campus tours at your convenience. We feel that if we have a chance to show you around our beautiful campus and our historic town, you will be hard-pressed to find anything else like it. Our town is one of our best bragging points (it doesn’t hurt that the Mayor of Natchitoches is always willing to help recruit students). Everyone here is very proud of all we have to offer in small town America.

One of my favorite traditions is attending the NSU Christmas Gala. It is absolutely incredible. One of NSU’s largest departments is the School for the Creative and Performing Arts. We have a 335-member marching band, an orchestra, an amazing theater and dance department, and an incredible choir. All of these areas combine for an hour-long showcase of the arts. Believe me, you don’t want to miss it. It’s the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Another one of my favorite traditions is my Christmas sweaters. Now, this tradition started way before tacky Christmas sweaters were even a thing. I get a new Christmas sweater every year to debut at the festival. This started in 1991 and I now have 26 Christmas sweaters, and — despite what my coworkers say — none of them are tacky. This is why I’m bewildered every year when the sororities call to borrow one of my sweaters for their tacky sweater Christmas parties.

Did I almost forget about the best part of Christmas in Natchitoches? The Maggio’s frozen Egg Nog Daquiri. It is absolutely not Christmas without it. Others may sell an Egg Nog Daquiri but, believe me, you can’t beat this one. I also opt for the nutmeg.

When you’re in our town, take time to go shopping down Front Street and its side streets. You’re guaranteed to stumble upon some neat finds that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s one of my favorite places to shop for Christmas gifts and décor! If you shop at the end of the Christmas season, you can put up your loot and look forward to getting out your new Christmas stuff when the decorating begins anew the next year.

The Natchitoches Christmas Parade is kicked off every year with “the best sounding band in the land”: the Spirit of Northwestern Demon Marching Band. They are truly amazing. I love how they adorn their horns and drums with Christmas ornaments, garland, and hats. They’re always followed by the NSU cheer team. Next, many high school band and local celebrities follow. Of course, the parade ends with Santa himself.

Once the parade is over, everyone shuffles to get to their favorite spots for the grand finale. I always wonder how early you have to get up to get your tarp down for a prime spot on the river bank. Personally, I love being in a boat on the river. And then comes the finale: the fireworks. You’ve probably seen firework shows, and you might have seen a really good firework show, but until you’ve been to Natchitoches you’ve never seen the best firework show. It goes on and on. Every time you think, “here comes the end,” there is more. And finally, when the last firework goes off…

All of downtown is lit up. The Christmas lights stretch down the riverbank in all directions. They are brilliantly beautiful. Every year, the first thing I do is try to find what new displays were added for the year. I’m never disappointed.

For all these reasons…when traffic gets a little slower and cars start piling up in our little, historic, college town, we Natchitoches folks don’t let it upset us because we know what is right around the corner. When we see lights start going up and Christmas music piping through all of downtown, we get excited. And — before we know it — it’s that time of year again in the City of Lights.