The annual Biloxi Community Festival Against Crime will make its debut at a new location on Saturday, at Point Cadet Plaza, and Biloxi Police Chief John Miller expects it to be a resounding success.
“We’ve been on the Town Green for years,” Miller said, “but being down at Point Cadet Plaza this year means it’s going to be cooler with those breezes blowing off the water, there’s more parking, there’s the covered area to avoid the sun, the playground and the splash pad, convenient restrooms, and just a lot more room. It’s going to be great.”
The free festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., gives the public a chance to get a lose-up look at the city’s emergency-response equipment, meet police officers and firefighters, and receive a host of home- and personal-safety tips.
“Typically, when you meet police officers or firefighters it’s usually in an emergency situation, and, not, shall we say, in the happiest of times,” Miller said. “But this is a chance to meet your police and firefighters in a stress-free, fun environment. It’s designed to be educational, informative, and entertaining, especially for children.
“We’ll have plenty of free food, games and activities for children, and a good deal of high-tech equipment from both the police and fire departments.”
Among the first responders participating in the affair are the Biloxi Police Department’s dive and rescue team, bomb squad, and the traffic, bicycle and canine divisions. Members of the Biloxi Fire Department will also be showing off firefighter vehicles and equipment and will have a kid-challenging firefighter obstacle course.
See a flyer about the festival
Cruisin’ Wizard of Ohr, Sinbad and more
The IP hosts two big events tonight, “The Wizard of Ohr” and a performance by Sinbad, and you’ll also find Art Garfunkel, Chubby Checker, War and The Monkees in town this weekend. And, oh yeah, did we mention Cruisin’ the Coast cranks up Sunday?
See the weekend entertainment lineup
See the Cruisin’ the Coast schedule
News and notes
City Council: The Biloxi City Council meets Tuesday at 6 p.m. at City Hall. To see the meeting agenda and supporting documents, click here.
New CAO: Mike Leonard, Biloxi’s new chief administrative officer, dropped by City Hall today to meet the staff in advance of his first full day of work on Monday. To see a couple of photos from his visit, click here.
New pages: Two new pages have been published on the city website. To see the new page for the new chief administrative officer, click here. To see the new page for the new city attorney, click here.
City Desk: Did you catch this week’s City Desk podcast? Hear Gerald Blessey discuss the ongoing initiative for Coastwide consensus on the BP economic damages money, and hear Walt Rode give the inside story on the massive infrastructure work in east Biloxi. To listen to the program, click here.
