Natchitoches Main Street Program

Now that everyone has had some rest, I wanted to personally thank each of the following for their help in making the Natchitoches Queens Pageant so successful. If I forget anyone, I am so sorry!!

Greg—this man deserves SO much recognition! Greg puts countless hours into this program. He has answered a million questions over the past several months and is always the calm voice in every situation thrown our way.

City of Natchitoches/Staff—you guys rock!! The venue, decor, and the event as a whole would not have been possible without every single one of you. I am PROUD to be a part of you!! Your hard work did not go unnoticed.

John Wells Entertainment—all the beautiful lights and sound? That was them! We told them what we wanted, and they made it happen!!

Legacy Cafe—thank you for the lunches for our staff and judges. Mary Lou’s—for the most beautiful flowers for the girls. Judges—for traveling hours to ensure our judging process was fair and unbiased (y’all were a delight!) Other organizations in the city that let us borrow things to complete our decor—thank you! NSU—for the scholarships for the girls and providing awesome entertainment. Visiting royalties—your support is so appreciated!! Vanessa—our amazing seamstress!! Contestants & families—it wouldn’t have even been an event without YOU!

Main Street is so excited for this year’s Christmas festivities, and this was the perfect start of it for us! We hope you enjoyed the pageant and will continue to come to all the amazing upcoming Christmas events for our 100th year—you won’t want to miss it!!

With love,
Maeli Sipple, Main Street ❤️💚

On Sunday, September 20, 2026, the 70th Miss Merry Christmas was crowned and the 2026 Natchitoches Christmas Belles were announced. Eighteen young women competed for the title of Miss Merry Christmas and the distinction of being chosen as a Christmas Belle.

Kamryn Dawson was crowned Miss Merry Christmas 2026. She is a senior at NCHS and the daughter of Mark and Ragin Dawson.

Six young women were chosen as Christmas Belles:
Camille Procell (Senior at SMS)
Ava Wren (Senior at SMS)
Daija Hampton (Senior at NCHS)
Charity Marshall (Senior at NCHS)
Carlie Spears (Senior at LHS)
Summer Rushing (Senior at SMS)

Jayna Curry & Katlyn King both received the Barbara Kirsch Memorial Miss Congeniality Award. This award was established to remember the positive influence Barbara had on others.

The Natchitoches Queens Pageant also featured local Miss and Teen titles, with the following young women being crowned during Sunday’s event:
Miss Cane River’s Teen - Vivienne LeBlanc
Miss Natchitoches City of Lights Teen - Landry Edwards
Miss Natchitoches City of Lights - Lauryn Vernon
Miss Cane River - Jalia Shepherd
Miss Natchitoches Parish - Jesse Foshee

[PART 2]
We aren’t sure why Facebook isn’t uploading the headshots, so we’re going to try this a different way. Each contestant deserves to be recognized❤️

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Meet this year’s contestants competing for the titles of Miss Natchitoches City of Lights & Miss Natchitoches City of Lights’ Outstanding Teen!

👑MISS CITY OF LIGHTS👑
Adreaunna Scott
Elyce Thomas
Jalia Shepherd
Jesse Foshee
Lauryn Vernon
Samaya Boxley
Sophie Hauptman

👑OUTSTANDING TEEN👑
Abigail Basham
Anna Malsam
Landry Edwards
Summer Percival
Vivienne LeBlanc

Join us this Sunday as we celebrate these contestants and crown the 2026 Natchitoches Queens!

A full press release with additional information about this year's program and contestants will be published soon. Stay tuned!

[PART 1]
We aren’t sure why Facebook isn’t uploading the headshots, so we’re going to try this a different way. Each contestant deserves to be recognized❤️

——

Meet this year’s contestants competing for the titles of Miss Merry Christmas & the Belles!

👑MISS MERRY CHRISTMAS👑
Ashely Magdalena Chaj Hernandez
Ava Wren
Camille Procell
Carlie Spears
Charity Marshall
Daija Hampton
Emily Amberg
Gabriela Contreras
Jailea Williams
Jayna Curry
Jenna Garcie
Joelee Lynn Savell
Kamryn Dawson
Kathryn Mitcham
Katlyn King
Lakyn Holden
Riley Ann Hagle
Summer Rushing

Join us this Sunday as we celebrate these contestants and crown the 2026 Natchitoches Queens!

A full press release with additional information about this year's program and contestants will be published soon. Stay tuned!

🎄⭐️ LSU Head Coach Kim Mulkey Named Celebrity Captain of 2026 Natchitoches Christmas Parade💜🐯💛
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Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer to help Natchitoches celebrate its 100th Christmas Festival ahead of LSU-NSU matchup

Natchitoches Christmas is pleased to announce that LSU Women’s Basketball Head Coach Kim Mulkey will serve as Celebrity Captain of the 2026 Natchitoches Christmas “Festival of Lights” Parade on Saturday, December 5, in downtown Natchitoches.

Mulkey will help lead the 1 p.m. parade as Natchitoches celebrates the 100th Natchitoches Christmas Festival, marking a century of one of Louisiana’s most beloved holiday traditions.

Her appearance comes during a special weekend for women’s basketball in Natchitoches. The LSU Tigers will face the Northwestern State Lady Demons on Sunday, December 6, at Prather Coliseum on the campus of Northwestern State University.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Coach Mulkey and the LSU Women’s Basketball team to Natchitoches during such a historic year for our Christmas Festival,” said Sandra Dickens, Natchitoches Christmas Board Chair. “When we learned LSU would be in Natchitoches for the game against Northwestern State, we knew this was a unique opportunity. Coach Mulkey is one of the most recognizable figures in Louisiana sports, and having her help lead our parade as we celebrate 100 years of Christmas makes an already special weekend even more memorable.”

Mulkey also shares a special connection with Natchitoches through the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, where she was inducted in 1990 following her standout playing career at Louisiana Tech. The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is housed at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum in downtown Natchitoches.

A native of Tickfaw, Louisiana, Mulkey has built one of the most accomplished careers in college basketball. She is the only person in college basketball history, men’s or women’s, to win national championships as a player, assistant coach and head coach. As a player at Louisiana Tech, Mulkey helped the Lady Techsters capture national championships in 1981 and 1982 and later helped the program win another national title as an assistant coach in 1988. As a head coach, she won three NCAA national championships at Baylor before returning to Louisiana to lead LSU, where she guided the Tigers to the program’s first NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship in 2023.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead the historic Natchitoches Christmas ‘Festival of Lights’ parade as the state of Louisiana celebrates this great tradition for the 100th time,” Mulkey said. “I’m always looking to give back to the state I love whenever I can. The opportunity presented itself, and I accepted. I look forward to seeing everyone on December 5 and, once more, at Prather Coliseum on December 6. We are excited to make our time in Natchitoches a memorable one.”

The December 6 matchup will bring LSU Women’s Basketball to Northwestern State’s Prather Coliseum, adding another major event to Natchitoches’ centennial Christmas weekend. Natchitoches Christmas also extends its appreciation to Northwestern State Head Coach Alan Frey, who helped make Coach Mulkey’s participation possible by personally extending the invitation for her to serve as Celebrity Captain.

“Bringing an elite program here to play us is exciting enough, but having Coach Mulkey agree to be the Celebrity Captain in Saturday’s parade makes this an unforgettable weekend for Natchitoches basketball fans,” Frey said. “I want to thank Kim for saying yes to the ask and giving our community a great show on the parade route before our historic matchup on Sunday.”

The 2026 Natchitoches Christmas “Festival of Lights” Parade will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, December 5, traveling from the Northwestern State University campus through the Natchitoches Historic District.

The parade is part of the 100th Natchitoches Christmas Festival, which will feature a full day of activities in downtown Natchitoches, including entertainment, arts and crafts, food vendors and the festival’s signature fireworks celebration over Cane River Lake.
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⚜️ For additional information about the 100th Natchitoches Christmas Festival, visit NatchitochesChristmas.com

It’s going to be a great weekend!! And it’s FREE! Come join us downtown!

‼️Farmer’s Market Vendors‼️

See below & please reach out to the Farmer’s Market page directly for all questions regarding the event.

Send a message to learn more

The Zydeco Fest starts TOMORROW!!

We hope to see you all there!🎶

Hey Zydeco fans!!! It's going to be another great year! If you're interested in the Poker Run contact Ricky Slick Jones 318-652-1500. Next weekend, Labor Day. September 5 & 6, 2026!! Downtown Natchitoches. Don’t miss it.

The Main Street office will be closed for the upcoming holiday and office closure dates listed below.

Although the office is closed Wednesday through Friday next week, we can still be reached via email or messenger. Please expect a delayed response during those days.

📧[email protected]

Thank you for your understanding!