For one week every October, the Mississippi Gulf Coast becomes the biggest rolling car show in America. They call it Cruisin' the Coast, it turns 30 this year, and it has grown from 374 registered classics in 1996 to more than 10,000. For seven straight days the whole Coast hums with big blocks and chrome.
And for one of those days, Tuesday, October 6, it belongs to Moss Point.
From 9 to 5, Main Street turns into something you have to see to believe. Fins, whitewalls, and candy paint stacked bumper to bumper from downtown to the riverfront. A '57 Bel Air rumbling past storefronts that watched cars like it roll by the first time around. Engines echoing off brick, the Escatawpa glittering behind all of it, and not an admission gate in sight. Walking the show is free.
Do not take our word for how good this day is. One cruiser told WXXV News 25 that this show is a favorite of the entire week, seven years running, and makes the drive from North Carolina every October just to park on our riverfront. People with ten thousand cars' worth of options keep choosing the little show by the river. There is a reason.
Here is how to do it right. Come hungry, because the food will find you. Bring a chair if you like to post up, or walk it slow, end to end, and let somebody's grandfather tell you about the one he had in high school. Awards go to the cars that earn them, and if you have never watched an owner take home a trophy for a machine he rebuilt with his own hands, that alone is worth the trip. The shops and restaurants downtown stay open all day, so make an afternoon of it.
Selling something? Food trucks, food tents, and merchandise tables can still claim a spot on the street, and volunteer shifts are open too, all on Go Coast Events. For the full rundown, photos, and last year's film, hit the Cruisin' the River City page, and see what else the fall holds on our events page.
October 6. Nine to five. Main Street to the river. Come see what thirty years of Cruisin' looks like when it slows down by the water.