# @kirstenalana on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CmX4lq_L6jb
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/3392602-kirstenalana-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/90d8eed942.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-12-20T02:35:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Kirsten Alana (@KirstenAlana) — https://gondola.cc/KirstenAlana

## Caption

AD ⚜️ I celebrated an early holiday in Natchitoches, louisianatravel.🎄The town, that is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory, has a month-long festival devoted to Christmas beginning the Saturday before Thanksgiving. That history, and the connection to one of the most renown Black artists in the USA [Clementine Hunter], is what drew me to want to visit and explore it for myself. The festival is one of the oldest community-based holiday celebrations in the country with more than 350,000 lights illuminating the area every evening. Every Saturday, during the festival, there are fireworks at night. And different activities take place each weekend like cookies with 🎅, tours that allow to you to see inside historic homes, a lighted boat parade, and more. 

If the town rings a bell, it might also be because of its Hollywood or Broadway connections. Steel Magnolias is both loosely based on people in Natchitoches and [the movie] was filmed there. Julia Roberts character is like Susan, sister of playwright Robert Harling, who wrote originally intending simply to create a short story that would help his nephew remember his mother. Later it swelled into what we know it as today and since then people have fallen in love with the all the women who Harling based on friends of his mother. 

If you’re going to visit and want to be close to the action, I recommend staying at The Jefferson House. They have an amazing view for the fireworks from their dock and an eclectic collection of items purchased during their years working around the world. Many of which I’ve seen on my own travels! You could also stay at Steel Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast; or rent out the the_perrault_house, which is where we stayed, farther away but still just an easy bike or short car ride to downtown. 

❤️ More in my next post on what you can do while visiting.

Natchitoches is an hour drive from Shreveport, where I flew into on delta. But you could combine the town with a visit to New Orleans which is less than 5 hours away by car. 

stellerstories #Natchitoches #OnlyLouisiana #NatchitochesChristmasFestival #StellerAlwaysFreshLouisiana #VisitTheUSA

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## Tags

natchitocheschristmasfestival, natchitoches, onlylouisiana, stelleralwaysfreshlouisiana, visittheusa

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