Scenes from Mississippi Gulf Coast Spring Break 2021 on the Biloxi beach

After booming thunderstorms moved across the Mississippi Coast through lunchtime Saturday, not many spring breakers were out at Biloxi beach by that afternoon.

Several people said they had expected bigger crowds like in previous years.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Spring Break hosted a beachside DJ on Saturday and nighttime events at local clubs that drew bigger crowds.

There are multiple organizers of spring break events each year, and perhaps the biggest draw is an annual concert at the Coast Coliseum with a full line-up of hip-hop acts. This year, a different event was booked at the Coliseum — “Disney on Ice.”

With the coronavirus pandemic, Black Beach Weekend organizers had previously told the Sun Herald there was not enough time to plan April events after Gov. Tate Reeves lifted social gathering and concert restrictions.

Black Beach Weekend will be held from from Aug. 27-29.

“This is a big difference from, you know, the last couple of years they had it,” a spring breaker named Brendan told the Sun Herald. “You know, with the exception of last year there’s way less traffic, and that says something, because they usually have the concert at the Coliseum, and they would have a lot of artists coming down and that would bring a lot of people out. I think that’s having something to do with the lack of people too, and usually there is vendors set up all on that side [of the street], and today there’s nothing.”

Other spring breakers said Friday night’s events were more packed with people than the beaches were.