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Orange Crush, a controversial Georgia college spring break bash that has brought violence and piles of trash to the quiet Georgia vacation town of Tybee Island in years past, is returning Saturday. And, this time, its organizers are promising to keep the event safe and clean.
Orange Crush has an official permit this year, along with an agreement between its organizers and Tybee Island city officials to keep the beach clean enough for the estimated several thousand people expected to show up to watch the sunrise on Easter Sunday from the Tybee Beach pier.
“Our whole region of southeast Georgia has nothing but bad memories about this event [in recent years]. … It got out of control whenever people got involved who weren’t really college students. They were coming just to try and make money or whatever,” Tybee Island Mayor Brian West told Fox News Digital. “We had a really good year last year. It was a complete success, in my opinion, although it wasn’t perfect.”
West added that if the event goes smoothly this year, city officials will keep working with event organizers to establish trust among locals and keep the event returning to Tybee for future spring break festivals.
Workers use steel barricades to block street parking and side streets along Butler Avenue April 16, 2024, as the City of Tybee Island prepares for Orange Crush. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network.)
“I have worked closely with Tybee Island officials, including Mayor Brian West, law enforcement in Tybee Island and Savannah and other key stakeholders to develop a rigorous plan for this year’s festival,” Smalls said. “Our team has followed a strict schedule to ensure that every detail is carefully organized and executed with safety and structure in mind.”
Smalls noted that Orange Crush has “been a longstanding tradition, occurring with or without a permit,” but this year will be different because “for the first time, the event is officially structured, with security, waste management and traffic coordination in place.”
A group hangs out on the boardwalk after being on Tybee Island beach for Orange Crush. (RJ Smith/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
In 2018, Tybee Island enacted new regulations cracking down on Orange Crush weekend, including restrictions on open alcohol because Tybee is an open container city, increased traffic stops and property searches and limits on home rentals. An activist group, the Concerned Citizens of Tybee, complained about the regulations and involved the Justice Department. Eventually, the group and city leaders came to an agreement in July 2018.
The agreement states that Tybee will apply the same rules and restrictions to all large events on the island, “permitted or unpermitted,” that will be applied equally.