For the past few years, a small Mississippi city transformed into a Christmas wonderful, drawing tens of thousands of visitors from not only the Magnolia State, but surrounding states, too.

Now, the holiday atmosphere will be “different” for those visiting Columbia. Experience Columbia MS has announced the organization will no longer be involved in organizing the festive event.

Although Experience Columbia MS did not respond to a request for comment, there was a post on their Facebook page:

As the 2023 holiday season welcomes us, we are all dreaming of Christmas. Please refer to the Marion County Development Partnership, Main Street Columbia, and the City of Columbia MS – City Hall for an abundance of exciting upcoming events for 2023, as Experience Columbia MS will NOT be hosting events this year.

From 2018-2022, strangers became friends, visitors became neighbors, and everyone felt a sense of belonging when visiting Experience Columbia MS. We truly thank each and every person who embraced Christmas with us. The warmth of compassion radiated from every corner, reminding us all of the magic of Christmas. As a community, let’s choose to remember the true meaning of the season and continue to create more heartfelt memories.

Warmly,

The Experience Columbia MS Family

The post also included links to several other Facebook pages:

• Main Street Columbia
• Marion County Development Partnership
• City of Columbia MS – City Hall

A few events have been posted on various pages, but one extremely popular attraction will be missing: There are no plans to have the ice-skating rink this year.