Drone light show, bigger Cruisin’ event coming to downtown Gulfport this weekend
“Gulfport Big Weekend,” starts with a Sea of Stars drone and fireworks show Oct. 1 and continues with two days of View the Cruise to help launch the 25th Cruisin’ The Coast.
More details were announced Wednesday during Gulfport Chamber of Commerce “Making a Big Splash for the Economy” update on the impact of the first year of the aquarium and the upcoming events.
The drone show during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics gave people a glimpse of what to expect that Friday night at Hancock Whitney Bank’s Seas of Stars benefit for Mississippi Aquarium.
People will be able to watch the free show at the aquarium, at Jones Park and along Gulfport’s beach. They will see 500 drones launch and become lighted alligators, dolphins, turtles and other shapes in the sky.
The light show is like nothing ever seen in the area, said Laurie Toups, director of Gulfport Main Street, and will be even more impressive since it’s accompanied by fireworks and choreographed to music.
Musicians and 20 food trucks are signed up to be at Jones Park that Friday night.
A VIP celebration is planned at Mississippi Aquarium for for patrons and sponsors who want to eat, drink, meet the animals and see the light show from the prime location overlooking the beach, said Kendra Simpson, vice president of sales and marketing.
Classic View the Cruise
Typically 200,000 visitors are in Gulfport the first weekend for the start of Cruisin’ The Coast, Toups said.
“We expect this year to be even better,” she said.
The annual View the Cruise grows a two-day celebration that starts even before Cruisin’ The Coast.
Traditionally it is one of the opening events for Cruisin’ The Coast that starts this year on Sunday, Oct. 3, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 10.
Toups said Cruisers always begin arriving days before the official start, and expanding the event to Saturday gives them something fun to do, and a preview of the car show.
“This is a big deal for them to come to our Coast,” she said of the Cruisers who come each year from most of the 50 states.
Cruisin’ also gives a big boost to downtown restaurants and bars, she said.
“This is like Christmas for our businesses,” she said.
Downtown is given over to the antique and classic cars and trucks, their owners and admirers for two days. For spectators, “You’ll have to park outside the perimeter of downtown and walk in,” Toups said. This provides both a safe place to wander and a festival atmosphere.
Taking the stage for a 7 p.m. concert Saturday will be Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys plus Rockin’ Doopsie, Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters.
Added this year to Sunday’s activities is Cruising for Christ, a non-denominational service at Jones Park, hosted by First United Methodist Church.
Christmas light show returns
Hurricane Zeta tore through Jones park last October, destroying many of the Christmas lights already in place for Gulfport Harbor Lights
Crews will already putting up some of the lights even as people gather at Jones Park for the drone show, Toups said.
The show is presented by Island View Casino and the city, and has visits with Santa, snowflakes in the air, carnival rides and a holiday train.
It opens Nov. 26 and continues nightly, except Christmas Eve, until Dec. 31.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 5:50 AM.
