Page 103 - Play Coastal Mississippi - Spring, 2024

“There is perhaps, no better example of a community that, when life handed it lemons, it made it lemonade -- twice. This once sleepy Gulf Coast beach town was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina -- and after heroically building its commercial district back up, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill struck and COVID, keeping tourists away and devasting the local economy.
But under the guidance of Ocean Springs Main Street and its close allies, the Chamber of
Commerce and the Tourism Bureau, Ocean Springs is again sitting pretty. Together, their hard work and vision has helped line the town’s leafy streets with galleries and studios of all kinds, public art displays, and an array of restaurants that delight locals and visitors alike. They even rescued a historic high school from the wrecking ball and facilitated its conversion into a community arts center beloved that folks can hardly imagine life before it. No longer just an out-of-the-way beach town, Ocean Springs is now squarely on the map as a quirky arts mecca that is worth traveling too -- or calling home.”
COMMUNITY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
APRIL
Bud & Burgers Competition featuring Ocean Springs Main Street Festival April 20 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. (Main St. Festival begins at 1p.m.) L&N Depot Plaza • 228-875-4424
MAY
Taste of Ocean Springs Food & Wine Festival May 9
6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
L&N Depot Plaza 228-875-4424
JUNE
Annual Red ,White & Blueberry Festival June 1
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. L&N Depot Plaza 228-875-4424
Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce - Main Street - Tourism Bureau
1000 Washington Avenue, Ocean Springs, MS 39564
www.oceanspringschamber.com • /oceanspringschamberofcommerce
www.CoastalMississippi.com
Spring 2024 PLAY COASTAL MISSISSIPPI 103
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