Vicksburg is preparing to welcome 300 visitors to the city for Destination Downtown, a conference focusing on downtown revitalization.

The event will run from Sept. 11-13 and includes the Mississippi Main Street Association, Main Street Arkansas and Louisiana Main Street.

Vicksburg Main Street Executive Director Kim Hopkins said she is excited for Vicksburg to host the annual event for the first time.

“We are so grateful to our downtown supporters for helping us prepare our district to host this wonderful event,” Hopkins said. “We can’t wait to have Main Street champions from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and even Main Street America in town next week. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us to show off our shops, restaurants, galleries, and museums and, most importantly, the wonderful people that make up our downtown district. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary as a Main Street, we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our downtown district and how far we have come to make us a thriving downtown.”

Participants of Destination Downtown will take part in three full days, with sessions that include a cooking class, scenic tours of the River City, featured speakers and a 40^th celebration of Mississippi Main Street, Main Street Arkansas, Louisiana Main Street, and Vicksburg Main Street.

Destination Downtown has been held annually for more than 20 years. The conference rotates among the three states and local Main Street communities where it is hosted each year. Vicksburg Main Street, with the support of the City of Vicksburg, submitted the request to host the conference during the open bid process last year and Vicksburg was selected as the Mississippi host city.