A stroll along the brick-paved streets of Louisiana’s oldest town (est. 1714) offers a welcome escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life at any time of year. But during the brilliant, blue days of fall, the beautifully preserved European architecture and Creole-accented charm of Natchitoches’ historic district provides an especially lovely backdrop for Central Louisiana’s most exciting blend of cuisine, music, hospitality, and history.
October 18: Tappedtober
If you love to let the good times roll while benefiting a worthy cause, Tappedtober offers festival-goers an unparalleled beer and wine-tasting experience on the banks of the Cane River, with more than 100 beer and wine selections to try. While you try to figure out your favorites, beloved 90s country band Little Texas, and up-and-coming artist Timothy Wayne will take the stage. Don’t miss trying one (or more) Blue Moon and Guinness-infused cupcakes, created in collaboration with culinary students from Northwestern State University. There’ll be mechanical bull rides, cornhole and Jenga games for the grownups, inflatables for the kids, and food trucks for everyone. Proceeds support efforts to provide a PET scanner to serve for local cancer patients. Said organizer Halie Errington, development director for the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center Foundation: “This is our seventh year, and in our second year, we funded the purchase of a new van for our cancer center, so when you join us at this event, it’s very impactful.”
November 22—January 6: 99th Annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Arguably Louisiana's most famous, and long-running, Christmas lighting extravaganza, the Natchitoches Christmas Festival marks its 99th anniversary in 2025. The holiday spirit will be in full swing from November 22, with more than 300,000 holiday lights flickering on every evening through January 6. Each Saturday brings vendors, live music, kids activities, and spectacular fireworks shows to the Front Street Riverbank area. natchitocheschristmas.com.
Spectacular fireworks sequences light up the sky over Cane River each Saturday from November 22—January 6.
Looking Ahead
Other beloved highlights of Natchitoches' fall calendar include the St. Augustine Creole Festival (second weekend of October) which has been luring the faithful to the lovely grounds of St. Augustine Church and Cemetery since 1829. After gorging on luscious Creole fare, attendees join a walking tour of St. Augustine Church and Cemetery, the first Catholic church in the U.S. to be founded, financed and built by African Americans. Still an active church today, St. Augustine’s pew records reveal that racial role reversals were at play here, when Cane River Creole families (“gens de couleur libre” or free people of color) sat in the front rows, while white prominent planters filled the pews behind them. This remarkable church stands 15 miles south of Natchitoches near Melrose—at the cultural center of the Cane River area’s French, Spanish, Native American and Black Creole community. This festival serves as a family reunion for generations of local families, that gather to visit over entertainment, crafts, games, storytelling while connecting with family members and new visitors alike.
Photograph by Nicholas Bolin
Also held the second weekend in October, the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches’ Fall Tour of Homes invites guests to visit eight of the oldest and most charming homes in the state. You won’t have to trek far, since all homes are within walking distance of one another. Friday offers a candlelight tour and reception at Lemee House, with visits to Cunningham Cottage and three other historic homes including the Scott Corner House, which showcases the style of an 1840s raised plantation cottage, marrying the influences of Acadian and West Indies cultures. Saturday’s tour visitors four more gorgeous homes with unique stories of their own.
To discover more fall events in and around Natchitoches, visit natchitoches.com/calendar
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