Record-setting crowds enjoyed the 32nd Annual Orange Beach Seafood Festival on Feb. 24 with a crowd of 24,000 eclipsing the previous high of 20,000 a year ago and 18,000 from 2019.

“Obviously, the beautiful weather played a major role,” Orange Beach Special Projects Coordinator Marc Anderson said. “Having a sunny Saturday in the 70s opened the floodgates. I think everyone was itching to get outside and enjoy themselves after what has felt like a colder-than-normal winter so far.”

Traffic was a concern at times, but considering the volume of people headed to and from The Wharf all day long, it went well.

“There was a point between 12:30 and 1:30 where the morning people were leaving, and the afternoon crowd was rolling in, which caused a brief gridlock,” Anderson said. “Police handled it by directing traffic to our free shuttles that were running at the Orange Beach Middle/High School. I do have to say kudos to Lt. Rodney Kirchharr and all the police officers on traffic duty. It’s a thankless job when you’re in the middle of traffic but they handled it without an incident.”

Money raised helps both the Makos Academics, Arts and Athletics Club and Orange Beach also benefits from funds raised at the festival.

“(MAAAC) raised all the money on the Main Street activities, which is their side of the festival,” Anderson said. “The city handles the arts and crafts vendors, food and music in the lot behind the movie theater.”

Not only was the 2024 edition the largest in attendance, other parts of the festival were popular, including food vendors and car show participants. MAAAC Board President Matt Fetner said the final numbers aren’t in yet but he said this will be the best year yet for the festival.

“All things considered, it was a resounding success,” Anderson said. “The majority of our arts & craft vendors did well, some even sold out, and the food vendors had solid sales. The MAAAC Car Show had nearly as many pre-registered vehicles as they did for the whole 2023 festival. I’m sure the final count was well over 100 cars. Ryan Beebe’s team cooked over 1,200 pounds of shrimp, and some crawfish and sold out.”

That success was driven, Anderson said, by volunteers and the hard work of city staffers involved in the festival.

“The whole festival is a shining example of what our Orange Beach community can accomplish together,” Anderson said. “Many volunteers from the schools to community members as well as numerous city staff stepped up to make the festival a success. None of it would be possible without them and we appreciate everyone who enjoyed the day with us. Our partnership with The Wharf is second to none as well. General Manager Jade Hubbard and Special Events Coordinator Lindsey Pearce are always great to work with.”

Next year’s festival is set for Feb. 22.