Sunday afternoon is often a good time for a laid-back visit to see members of the family.

Even those in the cemetery.

The Natchez City Cemetery’s annual Serenade in the Cemetery will be 2 to 4 p.m., April 17. The casual, self-guided tour will feature the usual music and actors depicting interesting people buried in the cemetery, but this year the event is also a showcase and grand opening of a new section of the cemetery.

“We have expanded the cemetery, and we now have areas that can accommodate large family plots,” Natchez City Cemetery Association board member Liz Dantone said.

“It is a lovely, shaped, gentle knoll, and it is to accommodate up to 800 burial spaces, which will help allow the community to be able to have their families in the cemetery for several more years.”

The new portion — known as the Bluff Addition — took approximately a year to develop from the survey and design to landscaping phases. It is located in the back right side of the cemetery for those entering from the first gate along Cemetery Road.

“It is called the bluff addition because at the time that the bluff stabilization project occurred, there was a lot of excavation and movement of soil to get the engineering structures built the way they needed to be on the bluff,” Dantone said.

“Some of the excess soil was diverted to a ravine in the cemetery, and former City Engineer David Gardner was involved in seeing the long-term need for additional expansion space for the cemetery, so the actual soil in the area of the bluff addition is soil from the bluff along the Mississippi River.”

The event surrounding the opening of the new portions, Serenade in the Cemetery, is meant to serve as a counterpoint to the fall Angels on the Bluff event, which takes place at night.

“For Serenade in the Cemetery, we encourage people to come out and enjoy a lovely afternoon in the cemetery,” Dantone said.

“Families used to spend time in the cemetery like this. Families would come and spend an afternoon, bring a picnic and sit in the cistern houses, and it is a tradition lost to time — our serenade speaks to that kind of family visit.”

The ribbon cutting for the Bluff Addition will be 2:30 p.m. at the addition.

David Troutman will provide music, and characters portrayed during this year’s program will include Dr. and Mrs. Emile Ehlert of Waterproof, La., and Edna Raphael Belle.

The Elherts died in a tragic accident in 1948, and Betty Jo Hazlip Harris will share their story.

Morgan Mizell will tell Belle’s story, which includes performance work in New York as a belly dancer.

John Grady Burns will decorate the stage area.

Modie Mascagni will also tell the story of his ancestors, and will end his portion of the progam with a dove release at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Admission is free, and parking is available at the cemetery. Those attending the event are asked to enter through the first gate.

Light refreshments will be provided.

In the event of rain, the event will be canceled.