Cruisin’ the Coast marks 30 Years as organizers prepare for week-long event
Cruisin’ the Coast turns 30 and organizers expect a record-breaking turnout of classic cars and visitors when the event returns this October.
With just two months to go, preparations are underway.
The week-long event has grown into one of the largest classic car cruises in the country, attracting thousands of vehicles and tens of thousands of spectators to the Mississippi Gulf Coast each year. Executive Director Woody Bailey said, “We’re happy to have Mississippi Lottery as one of our sponsors. Each year they do a scratch off ticket featuring Cruisin’ the Coast vehicles. They’ve done that this year already and it started actually yesterday. So, be on the lookout for them. One of the vehicles is a ’67 GTO that happens to be our feature car for Make-A-Wish this year. So, everybody check them out and see what you think. This year, Mississippi Lottery is going to be setting up at Jones Park and they are going to be selling actual lottery tickets. So, we’re excited about that and be on the lookout for that at Jones Park in Gulfport.”
Bailey says months of planning go into making sure everything runs smoothly. From coordinating with coastal cities and law enforcement to preparing venues, entertainment, vendors, and special events that will help mark three decades of Cruisin’ the Coast. “This year is our 30th anniversary, hard to believe we actually started back in 1996. Here we are 30 years later and Cruisin’ the Coast has grown a good bit. Our registration numbers are up and really strong this year we’re running about 500 a head, we’re a little over 7,100 now. We’re preparing for 11,000 to show up. So, as far as preparations for the event, we are working on everything from staging, to entertainment, to all of the traffic issues, meeting with all of the venues from the coast, all of the 12 cities, all of the counties that are involved. So, it’s a pretty big undertaking but we’ve, thank goodness, we’ve done it a few times but it’s all coming together really well.”
The 30th anniversary of Cruisin’ the Coast gets underway October 4 through the 11 with events taking place across all six coastal counties.
