NATCHEZ — Packing 300 years of history into a one-year, multi-million dollar celebration is a mighty big job.

But the City of Natchez is on top of it, Mayor Butch Brown said, and has made good progress in its first year of planning the city’s 300th birthday celebration for 2016.

One of the contributing factors for the progress on the tricentennial, Brown said, is the hiring of tourism marketing consultant Jennifer Barbee.

The Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau hired Barbee for a fee of $180,000, to fundraise and market the tricentennial. Once Barbee’s work is complete, she will pay back the $180,000 and take a 25-percent commission on the money she raises to fund the tricentennial, Natchez Tourism Director Connie Taunton said.

The fundraising goal, Barbee said, is approximately $10 million for the $5-7 million celebration. Barbee said nearly $500,000 in funds is currently being negotiated with sponsors. If she successfully reaches her goal, Barbee’s company will earn $2.5 million.

Barbee’s job is also to secure corporate sponsorships for the tricentennial. Barbee declined to name any of the sponsors that have committed because they are still in the negotiation phase.

“I will tell you that a major airline is involved,” she said.

Barbee said the fundraising progress is right on target for where it should be in the first year.

A significant amount of background work has also been completed, Barbee said, including the creation of the tricentennial logo and tagline, which is “A Party 300 Years in the Making.”

Barbee is also working to launch the tricentennial website, which will feature an interactive timeline of the history of Natchez.

Many of the events Natchez hosts annually will be “bigger and better” for the tricentennial, such as the Natchez Pow Wow and the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, Barbee said.

For example, Barbee said, the 2016 balloon race will include bigger entertainment, more food vendors and more children’s activities.

The tricentennial will also include new events such as the Beer, Bourbon and Biscuits Festival and a Civil War-themed mud run and an international basketball tournament with participants from the U.S., Spain, France and England.

Brown said the city is also trying to partner with Alcorn State University for a battle of the bands featuring bands from Jackson State, Grambling State and other schools.

The main theme of the tricentennial is “commemoration and celebration,” Barbee said.

“It’s more of a celebration for the consumer and a commemoration for the community,” she said.

The tricentennial should be a point of pride for Natchezians, Barbee said. One of the next steps in planning, she said, is figuring out how to get local people involved and excited for the celebration.

Another important aspect of the tricentennial, Brown said, is the city’s legacy projects, which he said would last long after the tricentennial is over.

Those projects include the renovation of the former railroad depot on Broadway Street and relocation of the Natchez Farmers Market to the bluff, the removal of utility clutter, the downtown scattered-site housing project and the beautification of Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

The National Park Service is gearing up for the tricentennial, preparing for the opening of Fort Rosalie to the public on Aug. 3, 2016.

The park service is contracting to have the last of the dilapidated houses removed from the site and is bringing crews in to clear overgrowth from the site, Superintendent Kathleen Jenkins said. NPS is also investing money this year on a developing a concept plan for Fort Rosalie.

“That will look at all the different aspects of what the visitors’ experience will be like, from parking to where the picnic area will be and other things like that,” Jenkins said.

The opening of Fort Rosalie will be close to the dates of the Natchez Food and Wine Festival, and Mayor Brown said the festival might be expanded to Fort Rosalie, where period food and beverages would be served.

Taunton said many conventions have already been booked during the tricentennial.

“The calendar for 2016 is filling up fast,” she said. “We are probably 50-60 percent sold out as far as accommodations.”

The city, Taunton said, plans to reach out to surrounding cities, such as Woodville, Vicksburg, Brookhaven and other areas for hotel accommodations that will be needed throughout 2016.

In the past year, the city has established a volunteer committee to come up with ideas and events for the tricentennial.

The committee is broken into teams with captains in charge of ideas for the different themes of the tricentennial, which include agriculture and gardening, architecture and decorative arts, ethnic history, education, social history, arts and entertainment, food ways, sports, economic life, religion, military affairs and transportation.

The tricentennial events that will occur throughout 2016 will be geared around these themes, said local attorney Stratton Bull, who is leading the tricentennial committee.

Resident Mike Gemmell served as chair of the committee for most of the year, but stepped back in May, advising the city seek a full-time manager for tricentennial planning.

Brown said the city has moved away from that idea because of the work Barbee has been able to accomplish for the tricentennial.

Brown said one of the most important next steps of planning the tricentennial is keeping the momentum going.

“Keeping that spirit high and keeping the involvement high is a big emphasis of mine because we still have two years before (the tricentennial) begins,” he said.

Bull said he believes momentum will continue to build as more and more events are planned and details are mapped out for the tricentennial.

“Once things start to gel … it feeds on itself,” he said.

Barbee said the tricentennial presents an opportunity that could reap benefits for Natchez long after 2016 has come and gone.

“I have worked with over 300 destinations, and I have to say I haven’t seen another opportunity with a trigger event that could literally change the face of Natchez tourism,” she said.