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NATCHEZ — The Natchez Garden Club’s Spring Pilgrimage was a success, said club President Chris Bartha.

Bartha said the Homeowners Association of the Natchez Garden Club gathered on Monday, April 28, to review the 2025 Spring Pilgrimage.

“Homeowners belonging to this group held their Pilgrimage in Natchez from March 8 to April 19,” Bartha said. “Based on reporting from participating members, numbers exceeded last year’s Pilgrimage in what may be described as a measurable and steady increase in attendance year over year.”

This year was the third Spring Pilgrimage for the NGC Homeowners Association, she said.

Homeowners reported no significant increase in attendance on the weekends that the Pilgrimage Garden Club held its events.

“Many events were going on in town during the Spring season in Natchez, which thousands of people collectively attended, including the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebrations, the DAR and SAR convention, the Natchez Pow Wow, Junkin’ on the River and several other events,” Bartha said. “These groups held receptions, luncheons, dinners and group tours of Natchez Garden Club member properties.

“In addition, the Natchez Garden Club Magnolia Ball held in conjunction with the NGC Spring Pilgrimage attracted a significant number of people from out of town. Undoubtedly this benefited our Pilgrimage in terms of the number of people in town,” she said.

Bartha said a number of different metrics could be used to determine the economic impact on the community of any given event during Spring Pilgrimage.

“Based on the number of tickets sold to our houses, and information gathered by our homeowners, we can conclude that the majority of visitors were from out of town and stayed at least two nights in Natchez. The estimated economic impact of the extended NGC Pilgrimage would be comparable to that of the PGC, given similar metrics,” she said.

Visiting the city’s historic homes has not lost its appeal, Bartha said.

“Even though times have changed since the heyday of the pilgrimage in the ’40s and ’50s, people are still traveling to Natchez. They are still interested in our history and the beautiful architectural treasures that are so unique and special to Natchez. The way people choose to come here, by automobile rather than motorcoach may have changed, but the interest in our history and the opportunity to visit our historical properties is still a compelling part of the reason people visit,” she said. “We have a wonderful group of homeowners who are committed to the success of our community and we feel our Pilgrimage contributes significantly to that effort.”

The NGC homeowners group is free to operate independently.

“Our homeowner organization values individual empowerment and autonomy. Our participating members are permitted, in fact encouraged, to sell tickets at the door as well through our official ticketing outlet Little Easy Tours and through Visit Natchez. Individual properties may also contract with any other ticketing outlet they choose to sell their tickets,” Bartha said.

“As the Natchez Garden Club continues refining and improving our Pilgrimage, homeowners meet periodically to collaborate on ways to innovate and improve. They understand that today’s traveler is very discerning and is looking for unique ways to incorporate historic homes within a more meaningful context. This may include special events and non-traditional tour times among other things,” she said. “It was wonderful to see the streets of Natchez filled with visitors during our beautiful Spring season. People are finally having the confidence to travel again and the Natchez Garden Club homeowners are ready with open arms.”