Organizers of the Orange Crush are celebrating a successful weekend in Jacksonville, saying everything went smoothly.
While 20,000 people were expected to attend, crowd sizes were much smaller than expected.
When the mayor of Jacksonville Beach first arrived in the area at 2 p.m. Saturday she said she felt the city had “wildly overprepared.” Mayor Chris Hoffman estimated the crowd Saturday – billed as Beach Day – was only around 1,000.
By the end of the night, however, Hoffman wrote in a lengthy Facebook post: “I rode the beach with officers who were informing and enforcing open container rules. Every single encounter that I witnessed was pleasant and mutually respectful. I witnessed no arrests however I did see one routine traffic stop. ... I was extremely grateful for each and every officer that took part in traffic control, road closures, responding to calls and ensuring a smooth and largely uneventful evening. The downpour and truncated bar hours certainly impacted a late night with other potential problems -- even a standard Saturday night at 2 a.m. can be a challenge to public safety.”
People who traveled to Jacksonville for the party reported having a good experience.
“Really just good vibes, no chaos -- good music,” said Joshua Jordan from Georgia.
“So far it’s been safe and everything, so we’re having a good time,” said another festival attendee, Tiarra Jones.
After the Jacksonville Beach outing Saturday, there was an after-the-beach party at Onyx. Security said the night went smoothly.
“it’s a good safe place to have fun. We don’t have a whole lot of problems out here,” said King David, the head of security.
“I was very excited with the way things turned out. I was excited to work with the city and continue to build our relationship,” Orange Crush founder/promoter George Mikey said late Sunday. “With all of my teammates, we have multiple partners that make sure were able to operate as a large, functional, insured company that can be beneficial to the community overall.”
There were reports of gunfire as the three-day event wrapped up Sunday night with a car and bike show in the Moncrief neighborhood. Police blocked off the area, essentially shutting the party down, but there were no reports of injuries or arrests.
We know Northeast Florida sheriff’s offices helped Jacksonville by transferring inmates to other facilities – to ensure there was room at the Duval County Jail, but there is no evidence there were a significant number of arrests
Mikey said he’s happy with the festival’s first year of being in Jacksonville.
“I was excited to work with the city and continue to build the relationship,” he said. “There were a few small incidents, but we were aware, as well as the police department.”