Nicole Hester/The Natchez Democrat — Birthday party revelers gather on the bluff in front of the Natchez Grand Hotel Wednesday to listen to music, watch the sun set over the river and wait for the fireworks.

Flora Terrell, fans herself during the Fort Rosalie dedication ceremony Wednesday.

Nicole Hester/The Natchez Democrat — Tapetha Torrez, 11, stands on a tree stump and frames the crowd with her hands during the dedication of the Fort Rosalie site Wednesday.

People at the Grand Village hold fans to block the bright sun Wednesday (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

For Great Sun Hutke Fields, Wednesday’s celebration was a homecoming. Fields is the principal chief of the Natchez Nation. Fields, center, joined residents and others who traveled to Natchez to celebrate the city’s birthday. Fields spoke to the crowd in the native tongue of the Natchez Indians in front of the mounds where his ancestors lived when the French built Fort Rosalie. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Peyton Conerly, above, throws a corn cob dart at a target as part of the many children’s games and activities that were offered during the festivities Wednesday. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)

Below, residents line up along the railing of the Bridge of Sighs before the fireworks show capped off the day’s birthday celebrations. (Ben Hillyer / The Natchez Democrat)