Fireworks, baseball, and fishing brought in record numbers over the, for some, four day weekend.
“The warm, summer weather always brings in people,” Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney said, “but add the diversity of events that we just had, and the number of people usually increase.”
The long Fourth of July weekend in Biloxi featured three fireworks shows, the 70th annual Mississippi Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, and a Biloxi Shuckers Fourth of July game.
According to Mississippi Hotel and Lodging Association Director Linda Hornsby, hotels saw some of the influx.
“As it turns out, it became a decent “split” weekend,” Hornsby said. “Saturday night was a sellout for some of the properties and others had availability but still did well, and the same could be said for Monday night.”
The Biloxi Fire and Police Departments were also impacted by the activities. Calls for service increased in Biloxi Fire Department by 38 percent and in the Biloxi Police Department by 70 percent between noon and midnight on Beach Boulevard on July 4.
“We definitely saw an increase in traffic,” Biloxi Police Interim Director Michael Wills said. “Attendance to the fireworks-free zone more than doubled but all went well.”
As for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Fourth of July game with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos brought in a crowd of 6,098 which was a season high that tied as the second highest attended game in the three-year history of the ballpark.
See the reports from the fire, police and community development departments
News and notes
City Council meeting: The first meeting of the new council term was held on Wednesday night at Biloxi City Hall. To see images from the meeting, click here.
Podcasting: Did you know that the City of Biloxi has a citizens representative center to help people with concerns and complains within Biloxi? Well, the city does. To find out more information, listen to the latest recording of the City Desk Podcast by clicking here.
