Tybee Island, Georgia, is planning to welcome the controversial “Orange Crush” music festival in April. As long as the organizer agrees to meet certain conditions.
“Thank you for your interest in the 2025 Orange Crush Festival!” Posts on the Orange Crush Instagram page will be read. “We are pleased to announce that for the first time in decades, we are fully permitted and ready to celebrate April 18th-20th.”
The event previously came to the popular town of Georgia Beach, but there was no official permission issued by the city.
It has also built a reputation for creating security and garbage problems on the island.
On January 26th, Tybee Island City Council sent a conditional approval letter to Orange Crush Organizer Stephen Smalls. “Local government leader satisfaction.”
Conditions that must be met include event timing and placement requirements for “coordinating local government services.” Guaranteed the “preservation of public property.” Prevents dangerous and illegal behavior. Ensuring people's safety at events. Among other conditions, traffic restrictions are planned.
If “event scope, strength, location, type, or size” deviates from city requirements, approval of the permit will be withdrawn.
“Orange Crush Festival 2025 is nothing but the Heat of the Year,” the announcement on the festival's Facebook page added Thursday's announcement on the festival's Facebook page, adding this year's event is “the biggest Orange Crush Festival ever!”
“You already know it's going to become a legend!” post reads.
Last year, the event came to Tibee without official permission. A festival video shared on social media showed a pile of trash that had violent brawls, throwing hay shops, wrestling each other and growing up on the beach.
In the early 1990s, the Orange Crush has a reputation for being a weekend filled with wild crimes, and Savannah State University was categorized as a 1991 event due to the large number of violent arrests and reports.
Two years ago, the event moved to Jacksonville, Florida. “Due to lack of resources, parking, civil rights violations and political injustice,” according to a June 2021 story cited the event's website. The website was then deleted.
The event returned to Tybee Island in 2023 for the first time since 2020.
Chris Eberhart and Bonny Chu of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
