NATCHEZ — Christmas in Natchez: City of Lights was a most wonderful time this year.

At least, that’s what Christmas in Natchez co-Chair Ginger Hyland seems to think.

“Downtown looked great, a lot more people are adding lights and a lot more homes are adding lights,” she said. “I am very proud of it, very pleased.”

Christmas in Natchez is an effort by local businesses and volunteers to bolster community pride and draw more people into Natchez for the holiday season.

Throughout the month of December, special events are hosted around Natchez. This year, new additions included — but were not limited to — having a temporary ice-skating rink erected on the bluff and fireworks.

Downtown homes and businesses also decorate with seasonal lights, and the old International Paper Christmas decorations are placed along Broadway Street.

Each year the effort has grown.

December has traditionally been a slow month for Natchez tourism, and Christmas in Natchez is an effort to address that lag, Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Hudson said.

“If we can get (numbers) up there with Pilgrimage and the balloon race, and keep them up all the time, that will be good,” Hudson said.

“(This year), I think we had a lot of out of town people, which is part of the point of this.”

“We have had a lot of phone calls about events from people from out of town.”

Looking at this year’s events, Hudson said that perhaps next year the committee can try to place more events toward the end of the holiday season.

“We have kind of worked out the first two or three weeks, but we need to target those (later weeks) and see what happens,” she said.

The committee is already planning to meet and analyze what went well and what can be improved, Hyland said.

“Every year we try to make it bigger and better, and every year we gain experience on how we do things,” she said. “We can always do a little better, and that is our goal.”