. >> reporter: city park ceo bob becker expects 200,000 people to visit the festival this season. >>eautiful idea, 200,000 people sharing holiday experience that's also safe. >> give people a chance to celebrate, have a great experience, but do it safely. ♪ christmas time is here >> reporter: growing up, holiday lights in new orleans were a fixture in our traditions. i remember piling into the way, way back of the family station wagon and watching the show. you could take in the celebration from the comfort of your car. then in 2005, category 5 hurricane katrina tore through new orleans, leaving devastating in its wake. city park was annihilated. >> lost every building, most of the staff, all the equipment, 2,000 trees. >> reporter: the staff rallied to create a new tradition. in just a couple of months the holiday was reborn for holiday revellers on foot. christmas comes with new meaning this year. >> we're resilient people, have been through a lot. understand what it means to come back, hang in there, hang tough ♪ it's coming on christmas, they're cutting down trees ♪ >> reporter: