Letter from the Executive Director

 

Hello everyone!

Can you all believe Cruisin’ The Coast has made it to THIRTY YEARS?! What started out way back in 1996 with just 374 registered vehicles over a four-day event has grown to a whopping 10,334 registered vehicles over eight days in 2025. Last year, we registered vehicles from 42 states,  Australia, Canada, England and Germany. It really is amazing how much CTC has grown and we thank all of you for liking our little car show.

I guess you’ve probably heard by now that Cruisin’ The Coast has once again been voted the best car show in the nation by voters of the USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Thanks to all of you – our tremendous supporters in the CTC family – we won out over 19 other prominent car shows in the country for the seventh year in a row. We appreciate all of you for thinking so highly of us!

We had a few changes last year with our move back to beautiful Jones Park, the site of Cruise Central. Located on the beachside of Beach Boulevard (Highway 90) and 25th Avenue (Highway 49), Jones Park has beautiful views as it surrounds the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor.

Another change last year was the Autocross, which relocated to the north surface parking area of the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville. The new location worked out great and this year, the Autocross Guys will bring something new as part of our 30th Anniversary. A Drifting Exhibition will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, October 7 at the Scarlet Pearl and we are sure you will enjoy this new event.

One change that will take place this year is the location of the very popular Flame Throwing competition. We thank Island View Casino in Gulfport for hosting this event for years, but this year we will be moving the Flame Throwing contest to the IP Casino Resort Spa in Biloxi on Tuesday, October 6.

Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood is our presenting sponsor again this year. This can only mean one thing – another year of sampling the best seafood on earth. And it is absolutely free!
Check out the schedule to see when and where they will be set up.

Besides the incredibly cool rides, live entertainment is always on the minds of our cruisers and the music line-up will be great once again with some new bands as well as popular favorites, including Bag of Donuts who will be our featured entertainment for the Super Saturday Concert at Hollywood Casino Resort in Bay St. Louis. Immediately after their great performance, stick around for a patriotic fireworks show.

Also, as part of our tribute to the birth of our nation 250 years ago, we will be adding a new show to the “Salute To Our Veterans” event on Tuesday, October 6, at Jones Park. Garry “Elvis” Wesley will be joined by The Victory Belles – a trio of young ladies from the National World War II Museum in New Orleans – who will perform patriotic classics from that era. We think you will really enjoy them.

Our 30th Anniversary is going to be a great week and we can’t wait for y’all to get here. We will see you down the road shortly! Look inside for details on new celebrities, our Cruise Central map and much more.

See you down the road!

Sherwood R. “Woody” Bailey, Jr.
Vice Chairman & Executive Director