Cruisin’ The Coast is behind last year’s pace. Will South MS showpiece set another record?

Last year went into the record books as the first time more than 10,000 vehicles were registered for Cruisin’ The Coast.

This year’s antique and classic car show from Oct. 6-13 is starting slightly behind that record pace.

The 2023 final count of registered vehicles set an event record. “Our total was 10,070 from 45 states, Canada, Germany and England. If I do say so myself, that’s pretty impressive,” said Woody Bailey, Cruisin’ executive director.

Early registration ended in mid-August and Bailey said, “We are about 250 less than we had last year at this time.”

He said the trend over the last few years is for more people to wait and register on site, and he’s not too concerned.

Even with a slight dip, the numbers are still impressive at 8,259 cruisers pre-registered.

More will register beginning Monday and registration will continue all week at Cruise Central at Centennial Plaza in Gulfport.

First-timers

Cruisers who are pre-registered for 2024 are coming from 43 states, Canada and England.

More than 1,100 are first timers — a really strong number for a 28-year event, Bailey said.

“That’s about 18% of our registration,” he said.

Several new events are on this year’s schedule and Bailey said people will want to see the 2024 feature vehicle — a Chevy pickup worth several million dollars that can reach speeds of 150 mph or better. “It’s pretty spectacular,” he said, and will be on display at some of the Cruisin’ sites.

Coast business owners and staff are counting on a good turnout during what is their busiest week of the year. Restaurants and hotels will be packed, shops will be busy and gas stations will have a parade of classic cars and trucks coming through.

The economic impact, calculated in 2022, shows Cruisin’ brings more than $36 million to the South Mississippi economy. It’s the largest event in Mississippi and was voted by USA Today readers as the favorite car show in the United States for the fifth straight year.

Fall weather

Cruisin’ The Coast began in 1996 with 374 registered cars. Coast business and casino executives came up with the event as a way to bring people to South Mississippi while the weather is still beautiful.

The current weather forecast for the week looks to be “just awesome,” Bailey said, with sunny days and cooler temperatures.

Cruisin’ headquarters hasn’t heard from anyone who isn’t coming this year because they were flooded during Hurricane Helene, he said, but he has heard of a few cancellations at hotels.

“We’ve got people from all the affected states registered,” he said.

This story was originally published October 5, 2024 at 5:00 AM.

Mary Perez

Sun Herald

601-909-0649

Mary has won numerous awards for her business and casino articles for the Sun Herald. She also writes about Biloxi, jobs and the new restaurants and development coming to the Coast. She is a fourth-generation journalist.