NATCHEZ — With the start of the Natchez Tricentennial year just more than a month away, locals are invited to get a preview of planned events Monday at the Natchez Convention Center.

More importantly, they will learn how to make their own mark on the yearlong celebration of the city’s 300th birthday, Tricentennial Director Jennifer Ogden Combs said.

One of the aims of the preview, Combs said, is to give community members information to discover events or opportunities in which they can be involved or volunteer.

The preview event will also include an overview of the tricentennial website — natchezms300.com — and information on how to navigate the website to find information about planned events, Combs said.

Members of tricentennial committees, such as arts, faith and religion and social and ethnic history, will give reports on what is in the works for the various committees.

Special events planned so far for the tricentennial include:

-Dec. 31 — Tricentennial kickoff celebration and fireworks.

-Jan. 28 — Coming Home: A Tribute to Renowned Natchez Artists, a month-long exhibition and sale of artwork at the Historic Natchez Foundation.

-May 7 — Natchez Festival of Music: The Inspirations of Glen Ballard. During his career, Ballard has worked with Barbara Streisand, Aerosmith, Dave Matthews, Katy Perry and Alanis Morissette.

-June 1-27 — Smithsonian Museum on Main Street’s “Hometown Teams – How Sports Shaped America.”

The exhibit showcases hometown sports and will be housed at the Historic Natchez Foundation through the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

The exhibit will feature weekly events over the course of five weeks showcasing the history of Natchez sports teams.

-Aug. 3 — 300th birthday celebration and dedication of Fort Rosalie.

The Tricentennial is about much more than just a party, Combs said.

“We’re using 2016 to lay a foundation for a stronger, more cohesive community that is creating a stronger future,” she said. “That, to me, is the fundamental goal, to bring people together to create more collaboration between groups and people that will hopefully lead to long-term growth and positive change.

“If we get to January 2017 and we haven’t opened up the conversation more, told more of the story and created better collaboration, it won’t have been a successful year, no matter how many parties and celebrations we have.”

The preview event, which will be at 4 p.m. in the Natchez room at the convention center, will last approximately an hour and have a question-and-answer period.