NATCHEZ &045; Having married someone from Natchez and making much of his living painting multicolored scenes from Natchez life, David Lambert already doesn’t need much of an excuse to make the drive from his Jackson home.

But he had even more of an impetus to do so when friend Edward Killelea told him of the art festival the Natchez Downtown Development Association was planning for this year.

&uot;He mentioned it six months ago, and I thought it was a great idea,&uot; Lambert said. &uot;Natchez is a great walking town, so it’s a great place for a festival like this.&uot;

Lambert was referring to the Art and Soul Festival, which wrapped up its two-day run &045; and its first year &045; on Saturday with art booths, food, music and fun.

In all, the festival had 45 booths with paintings, pottery and other arts and crafts for sale and display along Main and adjacent streets. There were face painting, hands-on art opportunities and more to entertain children. It also had at least four food vendors and eight bands, the latter of which sent blues music wafting through the streets of downtown as Lambert manned his booth Saturday afternoon.

&uot;We did great this year,&uot; said NDDA Executive Director Tammi Mullins, adding that the association hopes to make the festival an annual event.

Don Wurst of Natchez, whose wife Ingrid was displaying her sculptures in colored concrete, said the festival was successful in more ways than one.

&uot;It’s been light traffic &045; but it’s heavy on buyers, Š which is good for us,&uot; Wurst said as he helped Ingrid arrange their wares.

The event attracted artists locally and from throughout the region and also attracted visitors from any place within driving distance, including Brennan and Victoria Zerangue of Baton Rouge. They were there with their son Niklaus, 3.

&uot;We were visiting Natchez and saw this was going on, and we decided to take a look,&uot; Zerangue said. And they said they liked what they saw.

For his part, Lambert said something such as Art and Soul &uot;brings a good spirit&uot; to downtown &045; and hopes it will continue.

&uot;This first year is something to build upon,&uot; he said.