JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Orange Crush Festival will be returning to Jacksonville Beach next month, despite being canceled in Daytona Beach over last weekend.
An organizer of the three-day beach festival predicted last Friday, that the event would no longer be held in Daytona Beach after expecting a low turnout.
"I really kind of called it off," Kenneth Jacobs, CFO and co-founder of Orange Crush, told the Florida Times-Union.
The festival is a loosely organized three-day beach weekend event that mainly draws a college crowd. According to the Orange Crush Festival's Facebook page, the event promotes a pool party, block party, car and bike show and photography expo.
The festival had been celebrated on Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia for several years, but organizers said in 2021 that they were expanding to Jacksonville Beach due to "lack of resources, limited parking, civil rights violations and political injustices," the Florida Times-Union reported.
The Florida Times-Union reports that recently, the festival received controversy during its stop in Tybee Island from an estimated 50,000 visitors overwhelming law enforcement. The festival was held over a weekend in late April and resulted in 18 arrests, assorted driving violations and event participants throwing items at police, according to media reports.
The three Beaches community, consisting of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach Police Departments, issued the following statement last week on the upcoming event:
"Beaches officials, law enforcement, and staff will continue to monitor the event closely and work to stay apprised of the evolving plans. While there are no permitted events on public land, officials are prepared for a very busy weekend. Due to the history of the event at its various locations, police departments across the area will assist to ensure that residents and visitors alike enjoy a safe weekend at the beach."
The beach festival will take place in Jacksonville Beach during Juneteenth, starting June 16 and ending on June 19.
*First Coast News credits some of the above information to the Florida Times-Union, who originally reported this story.*