The day after Thanksgiving, nearly 2 million lights will illuminate Gulfport's Jones Park and its nearby harbor in a show billed as Mississippi's largest holiday display.

The annual Harbor Lights Winter Festival begins on Nov. 28 and continues through Dec. 31, closing only on Christmas Eve, with hours from 5:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Launched in 2015, the event has grown in both scale and attendance, reflecting the Mississippi Gulf Coast's broader tourism boom in recent years. And this year, the city is expecting even larger crowds, especially now that Gulfport — the state's second largest city — is one of five stops along the Amtrak Mardi Gras Line that debuted this summer.

The festival has long drawn in locals and tourists from nearby cities like New Orleans, about a 90-minute drive a

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