NATCHEZ — “The debt is gone. The debt is gone,” the chorus echoed into Union Street Saturday night.

With song and fire, the Natchez Festival of Music celebrated the end of indebtedness for the small gathering of music lovers who took a risk in 2000 to keep the annual music festival running.

Gathered in the backyard of the residence of Katherine Killelea and her late husband, Dr. Donald Killelea, Festival of Music supporters toasted to the future of the festival as the 17-year-old bank note burst into flames.

Inside Dan Gibson, played the piano and sang to the joyous occasion.

Natchez Festival of Music Chair Diana Glaze said Saturday’s event gave the festival’s board of directors a chance to give themselves a pat on the back. More importantly, Glaze said it gave the board an opportunity to show appreciation to the small gathering of people who cosigned the loan in 2000.

“We wanted to thank those who were willing to take the risk, including the bank who loaned us the money,” she said. “We are one of the few arts organization in the state who have paid off our debt.”

As the longest running festival of its kind in Natchez, Glaze said many arts organizations operate in the red.

“We are unique here, in the fact that we can now say we are in the black,” Glaze said.

Glaze said even though the festival is debt-free, it relies on the generosity of the community.

“We still rely on our donors and the people attending our events to keep us whole, so that we can keep providing quality music events,” she said.

Much of the credit Glaze said goes to Dr. Jay Dean, the director of the festival and the Director of Orchestral Activities for the University of Southern Mississippi.

“He brought an air of fiscal responsibility to the festival,” Glaze said.

Dean helped organizers work on projects the group could afford and that would also appeal to larger segments of the population, Glaze said.

What originally started as the Natchez Opera Festival became the Natchez Festival of Music to include other music genres.

“We have branched out to almost every genre,” Glaze said. “This year we will probably add country music.”

For more information on the 2018 festival schedule, go to natchezfestivalofmusic.com.