The historical lights of Natchitoches, LA are also known as The City of Lights. Whether you’ve heard of Natchitoches or not, their holiday lights are actually so popular that there is a sign on the highway to notify travelers that it’s the place to be for the best Christmas lights display!
Every weekend in December, Natchitoches hosts a festival of lights with thousands upon thousands of decorative lights along the river front, displaying some of the most creative and beautiful lights you will ever see. The festival is known throughout Louisiana as the Mardi Gras of Christmas so you can imagine the number of people who come to this small town just to see the lights all lit up at night. Some of the lights are even choreographed to music!
In recent years the Natchitoches Tourism created hashtags – #Natchitoches, #ChristmasFest and #Christmas Festival – for visitors to use on Twitter and Instagram. Natchitoches might be a small town, but that doesn’t stop them from creating a social media buzz! Although Facebook is the most commonly used among the festival attendants, creating a hashtag allows all photographs of the festival to be in one place for all to see. Since the event’s commencement, there are over a thousand pictures on Instagram with the #Natchitoches hashtag. All followers who attended the event, and even those who couldn’t, are able to see the newest light: the bi-centennial Louisiana light! In small-town Louisiana, social media is a great way to help create hype throughout the state for this spectacular event.
What holiday event have you seen successfully use hashtags and social media? Tell us in the comments below!
