Spring breakers still showed up in crowds for the annual Black Spring Break in Biloxi, despite a denied special events permit and a canceled concert.
On Saturday, crowds relaxed and danced on Biloxi Beach, which is a public beach open to anyone, but many attendees voiced concerns over the lack of parking and new measures put in place on the event.
“It’s a slow start and I think the city of Biloxi is doing the best to try to keep their community safe, but once you get a bunch of young people in the sun for some fun its a force to be reckoned with, you can’t stop people coming together,” Yunni Bun, a spring breaker from Atlanta, Georgia, said as she sat by the beach with her friends.
A special events permit filed by organizers of Black Spring Break was denied by Biloxi City Council earlier this month after the city raised concerns about an empty lot north of U.S. 90 that was listed on the application to be used for vendors and parking. The city says it was concerned about parking and vendors being on one side of the busy Highway 90 and the beach, where the event is happening, on the other.
Black Spring Break previously hosted vendors and parking on the empty lot in past years, but the city says holding the event there violates new ordinances on special events enacted by the city over safety concerns after a shooting at Black Spring Break in 2023.
“We’ve made every other event uphold these new ordinances,” Police Chief John Miller told the Sun Herald earlier this month.
An application for amplified sound on the beach was also turned down by Harrison County Supervisors and no commercial activities are allowed on the sand for spring break other than already licensed beach vendors.
A concert at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum featuring Sexyy Red, Jeezy & 42 Dugg was also canceled, due to low ticket sales.
“I’ve been coming down here for 15 years and it’s ridiculous how they’re treating us, we just want to have a good time. We save our money and come down here to spend it but now it’s boring, we like to dance but we aren’t allowed to have loud music,” said Krissy Butler who traveled from Mobile.
Because of the denied permits, organizers could not have any vendors or commercial events on the beach, but the beach is public and still open to large crowds. The Black Spring Break organizers are also still hosting parties and other events in other locations on the Coast.
According to attendees, parking access to pull-off parking bays along Highway 90 next to the beach has been inconsistent, with police at times limiting parking access to only a few cars, and attendees say police have at times asked people on the beach to turn down their music. Parking was available at Edgewater Mall or for purchase from businesses along Highway 90.
“I’m not ever coming back,” John Lewis of Lake Charles, Louisiana, said. Lewis, who traveled with his two teenage sons to Biloxi for the weekend said he was bothered by the lack of access to parking and the large police presence.
“I drove a long way. Parking is ridiculous and everything you do is a problem. I understand there needs to be laws but you can’t even enjoy yourself on the beach. I ain’t coming back.”
According to the Black Spring Break Facebook page, here are the upcoming events scheduled for the rest of the weekend:
Saturday
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9 p.m. to 4 a.m., The Official Afterparty at Elaine’s Bar in Gulfport
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9 p.m. to 4 a.m., Black Beach Lithuation at Club Thirty IV in Gulfport
Sunday
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11 a.m. to 2 p.m. R&B Brunch, The Almanette Hotel and Bistro in Gulfport
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1 p.m. to 7 p.m., R&B vs Trap Day Party at Club Empire in Gulfport
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10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Carshow at Gulfport Dragway
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9 p.m. to 4 a.m., Finale Party at Club Thirty IV in Gulfport
