What started as a groomed event for a spring for a Local Georgia College in the 1980s In recent years, it has turned into a “Neretva” festival, attracting tens of thousands of participants to the small island that struggles to work proactively with the organizers of the event.
Orange Crush, an event of a spring vacation on Tybee Island, Georgia, who used to organize students nearby Savannah State Universitybrought the “complete Mayhem” to Tybee 2023, according to Mayor Brian West.
“Parking areas basically became a disaster areas because we had people who either fired fireworks that sounded like rifles, or actually shot rifles, and people ran and stamped. … It was clutter. It was really bad” , West said about the event in 2023.
Although the event is no longer related to the state of Savannah, he returns to Tybee Island for an Easter weekend, which is expected to withdraw about 50,000 participants to the island three miles.
Garbage can be seen along the beach as a party of spring near a dock on April 20, 2024, during Orange Crush on Tybee Island, Ga. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
Since the beginning of the 1989 event, the promoters have taken over the planning process with the aim of getting more participants and more money, which has Transformed orange crushing In a wild weekend for the usual peaceful beach city, West states.
The locals complained of garbage, traffic problems and violence as a result of a party and mass of people attracted to Tybee Island. In particular, in the parking lots after sunset, the students deal with police cars and deal with violent behavior such as throwing glass bottles. Local leaders and law enforcement work to contain these issues to make the participants of the residents and Orange Crush as safe as possible.
“It was a complete Mayhem.”
“One of our officers was hit in the head with a bottle. It was a complete Mayhem. So, we had to close our parking lots, so they are not available for use,” explained Orange Crush 2023.
The sign advertises parking during the CRUS Orange on Tybee Island, GA, April 20, 2024. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
Orange Crush organizers have applied for a city license for an event that starts on April 18, and ends on April 20, despite acting in the past without a permit. City leaders have given the organizers a list of conditions to be fulfilled to get a permit, but they have yet to accept these conditions.
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“We are delighted to announce that for the first time in the decade, we are fully allowed and ready to celebrate on April 18 to 20,” Orange Crush said in Facebook Post in FEB on February 19th.
However, West predicts that the City will not approve of the Orange CRUH license request because the organizers have started working with “dishonest” promoters that Tybee leaders do not want to be involved in the event.
“The promoters who requested a permit work with other promoters now that we do not want to involve it, so it is very likely that we will not now issue a permit,” West said.
The police officer was shown because the implementation of the law conducts traffic safety checks on April 19, 2024 on the island of Tybee, Ga. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
He said that the permit as an agreement between the city leaders and the organizers of the event that Orange Crush would meet the City’s requirements for the requirements of time and the installation of events, coordination of municipal services, “preserving public assets”, preventing dangerous and illegal behavior and other conditions.
Executive director Orange Crush, Steven Smalls, told Fox News Digital in a statement that his team “implemented a structured system for bringing organization, security and entertainment on this event – something that has never been done before.”
“I worked closely with the officials of Tybee Island, including Mayor Brian West, implementing the law on Tybee and Savannah Island, and other key stakeholders, to develop a strict plan for this year’s festival,” Smalls said. “Our team followed a strict layout to ensure that every detail is carefully organized and executed with respect to safety and structure.”
Smalls noted that Orange Crush “was a long -standing tradition, which occurred with or without permission,” but this year it will be different, because “the event is officially structured for the first time, with certainty, waste management and traffic coordination in place.”
Workers set up barricades for blocking street parking and side streets along the Butler Avenue on April 16, 2024, while Tybee Island is preparing for Orange Crush. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
“Although we cannot control any external promoter that connects with the event, we are official organizers and we have taken the necessary steps to bring responsibility and order to the festival,” he continued. “If the city of Tybee Island is worried about certain individuals, we encourage them to apply consistent implementation in all local companies that decide to cooperate with external promoters this weekend.”
Smalls asked “the public not to rush to judgment, but instead enabled this newly organized Orange CRUS Orange Festival to show the positive changes we made.”
“This is a new era for the event, and for the first time there is a clear plan of action to ensure that it is structured and well managed,” he said.
At past events, the promoters of the festival have formed circles full of people on the beach or in parking lots where students have to pay to see what is happening in the circle, which could be anything, from two men struggling to people who have sex to naked dancing .
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Spring breakthrough dance during orange crushing. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
“If an official tries to go and control the situation, suddenly, they are surrounded by 5000 people,” West said. “Even if they tried to arrest someone, our prison is an hour in Savanna, so that means to take off the officer from work and beyond where we need us, so the best they can do is try to keep the crowd in their space.”
The Tybee Island has a one -lane road leading to the island from Savanna, as an event that attracts tens of thousands of people, leading to traffic chaos, including cars ending on neighboring islands because they cannot arrive in Tybee Island
“It’s very uncomfortable for people living in this area,” West said. “People are actually driving through someone else’s yard. It can really get it out of their hands.”
The Tybee Island rents a dock on a state beach to ensure safety during orange crushing. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
The city tried to control traffic by fenced by neighborhood backstreams, closing certain parking lots and assigning a car directing staff. Tybee Island leaders Closed parking lots in 2024 and plan to do so in 2025. The city also renting a beach dock so that police implementation could be used during the event.
The Tybee Police Directorate usually has about 30 officers covering an area of about 3,200 homes, so that the city brings other state and local officers during Orange Crush Weekend, West said. About 100 to 150 officers for the festival are expected in April.
Orange participants at past events also covered the parts of the beach on Tybee Island with trash in the sand and in the water.
Orange participants at past events covered parts of the beach on Tybee Island with garbage in the sand and in water. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
“Although there are enough garbage cans and garbage places, participants only throw garbage wherever they stand,” West said, adding that the city “illuminated the area” reflectors and farther from four wheels at night after the festival last year to help with taking over garbage.
“Volunteers, some hotel owners and several council members … They started walking up and down the beach, so picking it up,” the mayor said. Schools and charitable organizations also help organize volunteers to clean the beaches about five to seven days after Orange CRUH.
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Back in 2018, Tybee Island implemented new regulations that broke into Orange Crush Weekend, including outdoor alcohol limitations, as Tybee is an open city of containers; increased traffic stops and property tests; and restrictions on renting a home. The activist group called the concerned citizens Tybee complained about the regulations and included the Ministry of Justice. In the end, the group and city leaders came to mediation in July 2018.
The Mayor of Tybee Island, Brian West, said the volunteers were cleaned after Orange Crush about a week after the event. (Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News/USA Today Network)
The agreement states that Tybee will apply the same rules and restrictions on all major events on the island, “allowed or defective”, which will be applied equally.
West described last year’s Orange Crush as more successful than the 2023 festival. After making more preparations for the city to relieve crime and traffic problems. Students who attended the festival could be sure in 2024, the mayor said, but he does not encourage people to attend.
“The party must be in a larger place with more approaches.”
In fact, West invites Easter visitors and other tourists to avoid Tybee Island during an orange weekend.
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For those who participate in Orange CRUH, West said that “more chances are that you will not have a good experience” from the chance that you have a good experience.
