Orange Crush delivers ‘vibe you want’ at annual HBCU beach bash

The beach bash was first organized in the late 1980s by students at Savannah State, a historically Black college and university, before the HBCU withdrew as organizer in 1991. The party evolved into a free-for-all held each April and has been promoted through word of mouth and social media, often drawing tens of thousands from across the Southeast.

This year’s version lived up to its billing as the start of a new era after promoters obtained a permit from the city — the first time since 1991 that Orange Crush was a sanctioned festival. Promoter Steven Smalls, a Jacksonville resident, erected a stage, party tents and VIP areas on the beach and marketed a daylong music festival featuring DJs and hip-hop artists.

The concerts almost didn’t happen, as Smalls’ group was beset by venue setup challenges. Crews showed up Friday to prep the site only to learn the stage could not be left on the beach overnight. On Saturday morning, government officials balked at gasoline generators — used to power the sound system — on the beach. The units were moved to a nearby parking lot and linked to the stage via several hundred feet of hastily located extension cords.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

The music started around 3 p.m. — four hours behind schedule. By 4 p.m., with a steady stream of attendees finding their way to the beach to join early arrivals who’d congregated near the pier, the festival was in full swing.

“You do enough events like this, you know there are going to be challenges, especially the first time around,” Smalls said. “I’m just happy to see a large but calm crowd.”

So were city officials, who last year launched an effort to curb disorderly Orange Crush conduct by limiting parking near the beach and recruiting more than 100 law enforcement officers from other jurisdictions, including state agencies, to police the crowds. Modeled after Miami Beach’s “breaking up with spring break” campaign, the crackdown was in response to the 2023 event, when an estimated 111,000 visitors brought mayhem and headlines.

Among the lowlights from Orange Crush 2023: A Tybee police officer was assaulted, hit in the head with a bottle; two attendees were beaten and robbed on the beach; and several young women sought protection from police and residents out of fear of sexual assault.

Orange Crush 2024 saw few incidents beyond a fistfight among a group of young women on the beach — a cellphone video of which went viral — and a brief car chase involving a man with an outstanding arrest warrant.

Tybee officials employed the same public safety plan for this year, with a new emphasis on identifying known troublemakers before they reached the party area. Law enforcement used license plate readers, a roadblock safety check and other intel, according to Mayor Brian West. Arrest numbers were not available as of press time.

There also was a show of police force, with officers positioned at dune crossovers, on lifeguard stands and mixing among the crowd. More than a dozen public safety pros also stood watch from the pier and pavilion, where access was limited to concessions customers. When Morrison shuttered the bar and snack shop for the day around 5 p.m., the pier closed as well.

Attendees voiced appreciation for the police presence. Nyia Kempr and her friends have made Orange Crush a girls’ weekend tradition — they came for the first time a year ago — and said safety is a priority.

“Everybody’s heard the stories, but this isn’t that,” said Kempr, a recent college graduate who lives in Cincinnati. “This is spring break.”