Page 46 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2026

CRUISIN’ THE COAST
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR OF CRUISIN’ THE COAST
Hello, everyone!
Thirty years?! When
Cruisin’ the Coast started
out way back in 1996 with
just 374 registered vehicles
as a four-day event, very
few believed it would
grow to a record-breaking
10,334 registered vehicles
from 42 states and four
foreign countries over eight
days in 2025. But what a
cool ride it has been.
Our 30th Anniversary
is expected to be even bigger this year and it started with
Cruisin’ the Coast being voted the best car show in the
nation for the seventh year in a row by voters of the USA
Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Thanks to all of
you—our tremendous supporters in the CTC family—we
won out over 19 other prominent car shows in the country.
We’ve added a couple new celebrities to our lineup for
2026 that we believe car enthusiasts are going to enjoy
meeting in person. We’re excited to have renowned
automotive designer Dave Kindig and Kevin “KevDogg”
Schiele of Kindig-it Design for the first time at CTC
as part of our 30th Anniversary celebration. Dave
and KevDogg will meet fans and sign autographs on
Wednesday, October 7, at Cruise Central in Gulfport’s
Jones Park from 9-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. The pair will also
be part of the Meet and Greet at the Beau Rivage from
6-8 p.m. Wednesday.
Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood is our presenting sponsor
again this year. Which can only mean one thing: another
year of sampling the best and most fresh seafood on earth.
And it’s absolutely free! Check out the schedule to see
when and where.
Besides the incredibly cool rides, live entertainment is
always on the minds of our cruisers and the music line-
up will be great once again with some new bands as
well as popular favorites, including Bag of Donuts who
will be our featured
entertainment for the
Super Saturday Concert
at Hollywood Casino Resort
in Bay St. Louis. Immediately after
their great performance, stick around for a spectacular
fireworks show.
As part of our tribute to the birth of our nation 250
years ago, we will be adding a new show to the “Salute
To Our Veterans” event on Tuesday, October 6, at Jones
Park. Garry “Elvis” Wesley will be joined by The Victory
Belles—a trio of young ladies from the National World
War II Museum in New Orleans—will perform patriotic
classics from that era.
Another change last year was the very popular Autocross,
which relocated to the north surface parking area of
the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville. The new
location worked out great and this year, the Autocross
Guys will bring something new as part of our 30th
Anniversary. A Drifting Exhibition will be held from 6-8
p.m. Wednesday, October 7 at the Scarlet Pearl.
One change that will take place this year is the location
of the very popular Flame Throwing competition. We
thank Island View Casino in Gulfport for hosting this
event for years, but this year we will be moving the Flame
Throwing contest to the IP Casino and Resort in Biloxi.
Our 30th Anniversary is going to be a great week and we
can’t wait for y’all to get here. We will see you down the
road shortly!
Keep Cruisin’,
Woody Bailey
Sherwood R. “Woody” Bailey, Jr.
Vice Chairman and Executive Director
46 | September 2026 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living