Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Alex Miller, leads a cast of local holiday spirits eager to share the history of the city’s Christmases past.
Hosted by the Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera and the Downtown Hattiesburg Association, the annual Ghosts of Christmas Past Walking Tour returns on Saturday, Dec. 12 to feature some of the downtown area’s most prominent landmarks and historical figures.
Tickets cost $15 each, and tours will run every half-hour from 5-8:30 p.m.
Due to state and local COVID-19 guidelines, tour sizes are restricted to 10 people per group. Heather Wilkes, event organizer, strongly encourages people to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets are available through Eventbrite at hclo.org.
“We honestly didn’t know if we were going to be able to have the event this year,” Wilkes said.
She added that over 15 HCLO volunteers worked together to develop a plan and revamp the tour to meet social distancing guidelines while still being fun and entertaining.
“The whole tour is just fun, and it’s a great way to get into the Christmas spirit,” Wilkes said. “We have a few guests … I mean a few ghosts. We have the Graves Brothers, who were a huge part of the musical history of Hattiesburg. We will have a visit from Hattie Hardy, who will tell us her history. Fannie Kyker will be there to talk about the Kyker Newsstand. Scrooge is also a big character on the tour, and he is one of the favorites.”
Tours start and end at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center on Main Street.
