Cruisin’ the Coast begins Sunday

Called America’s Largest Block Party, Cruisin’ the Coast kicks off this coming Sunday. Last year, record numbers were reported and this year could bring the same.

Over 7100 car enthusiasts have already pre-registered for this year’s Cruisin’ the Coast, beating out last year’s record.  Cruisin’ the Coast Executive Director Woody Bailey said “Those numbers also represent a little over  1200 people who have never been to Cruisin’ the Coast before.”

This event continues to grow every year and stretches from Hancock County to Jackson County. View the Cruise in downtown Gulfport is the first major event and takes place this coming Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. “It’s amazing. The first year was 1996 and we had 374 cars and we were just a Thursday through Sunday event. Now we’re an eight day event and we encompass all the way from Pascagoula to Bay St. Louis,” said Bailey.

Centennial Plaza is the meeting point and registration area for all the cars participating in Cruisin’ the Coast. Come Monday, thousands of classic cars will flock into the area from 44 different states and three countries. That means possibly record breaking numbers for this year. “Saturday we packed 9,000 registration bags in anticipation of potentially somewhere in that number. I’m thinking somewhere between 8300 and 8700, something like that. We should have that registered for Cruisin’ the Coast this year. If we have those numbers naturally that will be a record for us,” said Bailey.

What brings so many car enthusiasts to the Mississippi Gulf Coast? The sun and the fun plus this year, a chance to win a 1968 RS Camaro Coupe and the chance of winning part of $20,000.

If you would like to see a full schedule of Cruisin’ the Coast events click here.