The Natchitoches Christmas Festival was first presented in 1927 when Max Burgdorf, Superintendent of Utilities for the City of Natchitoches, Louisiana, decided that the community needed an event to celebrate the Christmas season. He purchased enough 10-watt Christmas tree bulbs to string along Front Street and to make a set piece to display on the riverbank. No one is certain why Burgdorf wanted the lighting program, but some say that it was his way of saying "thank you" to the city he loved.

Celebrate the Christmas season in Louisiana’s oldest city. Enjoy our daylong festival filled with music, entertainment, arts and crafts, food vendors, and our famous firework show choreographed to holiday music over Cane River Lake.