Orange Crush beach fest fizzles in Daytona, but Jacksonville event still on, organizers say

The much-hyped Orange Crush Festival is headed to Jacksonville next month, even as the festival's plans for Daytona Beach fizzled over the weekend.

An organizer of the three-day party that caused some havoc during the event's April 21-23 return to Tybee Island in Georgia, predicted Friday night that there would be “not much of a crowd” for the scheduled events in Daytona.

“I really kind of called it off,” Kenneth Jacobs, CFO and co-founder of Orange Crush, told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The "culturally historic" festival is a loosely organized three-day beach weekend that draws a largely Black college-age crowd. The event's Facebook page promotes it as the "biggest beach festival weekend in the country," with a festival, pool party, block party, car and bike show and photography expo. But details are sometimes hard to come by.

From 2021: Controversial Orange Crush Festival planning to come to Jacksonville Beach

Black beach party: What you need to know about the Orange Crush Festival 2021 in Jacksonville

This year, the series started with gatherings in South Carolina and Savannah/Tybee Island before it was set for Daytona Beach over the weekend and Jacksonville for June 16-19 during Juneteenth, according to the "Black Beach Week" website.

Jacobs said the Jacksonville event is still on.

In Tybee Island, an estimated crowd of 50,000 visitors overwhelmed law enforcement and local businesses, resulting in 18 arrests, assorted driving violations, an assault and robbery and event participants throwing items at police, according to media reports.

What's the history of Orange Crush in Jacksonville?

Orange Crush had been celebrated on the Tybee Island beach near Savannah for several years, but organizers said in 2021 that they were relocating to Jacksonville Beach due to "lack of resources, limited parking, civil rights violations and political injustices."

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office opened up space at the jail as a precaution in 2021, but it was a rainy, low-key weekend, according to Times-Union coverage. A significant police presence was easily noted in the areas where events were planned.

"No fights, no violence, like I asked," said Stephan Smith, one of the organizers during the Jacksonville weekend. "... More people came than I expected. There were a lot of out-of-towners ... The city didn't support the way out-of-towners supported."

The festival's promotional materials initially said it could draw 20,000 people, but the actual amount was difficult to measure because the events were scheduled all across Duval County.

"A lot of people and the group had a good time, but there was nothing organized about it," Jacksonville Beach Mayor Christine Hoffman said of the "Beach Day" event. "... To call this a festival is a misnomer. To say there's 20,000 people here for this, there's no way."

Last year there were some Orange Crush plans posted on social media for the March 11-13 weekend in Jacksonville, with a couple of news stations reporting it as well. But it was a mild version with little to no follow-up media coverage.

What happened at Orange Crush in Tybee Island prior to Jacksonville?

Orange Crush didn't take place in 2020 due to the pandemic. The 2019 festival on Tybee Island was canceled when organizer George Ransom Turner III was arrested after throwing an unauthorized house party that drew about 200 people. Police said he was actively promoting a party that took place at the home without the homeowner's permission and charging admission, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Following the 2018 Orange Crush on Tybee, police reported they had made 36 arrests, including one for discharging a firearm while under the influence. Police reportedly confiscated 10 guns, along with cash, marijuana, ecstasy, THC oil, THC cookies, “various pills” and MDMA. Two shootings connected with the event were reported in 2015.

Historical Black beach fest: Orange Crush moves to Jacksonville, Florida after decades on Tybee Island

Photos: A look back at Orange Crush on Tybee Island

Tybee Island passed a resolution in 2017 banning public consumption of alcohol and playing amplified music in public spaces over two weekends in April — the weekends of Orange Crush — over the objections of local civil rights leaders.

The festival had taken place on Tybee Island since 1988 and has been un-permitted since Savannah State University severed its relationship with the event in 1991, according to the Savannah Morning News.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Orange Crush Festival returns to Jacksonville in June 2023