Orange Crush festival returns to Tybee Island as police brace for 50,000 partiers after teen takeover, gunfire

Tybee Island, Georgia, plans to welcome back the controversial “Orange Crush” music festival this weekend, as police brace for thousands of revelers to flood the beach town.

“THE BIGGEST HBCU BEACH BASH IS BACK! Official Dates April 17TH -19TH Tybee Island,” a post on the Orange Crush Instagram page reads. “Concerts + Greeks + Parties + Car & Bike Show + Live Celebrities. Over 50k people expected.”

Known as “Crush Reloaded” this year, the main event is scheduled for Saturday with a musical festival at the Tybee Island beach pier and pavilion.

In 2025, Georgia police made 22 arrests over the weekend as Tybee Island welcomed partiers to Orange Crush, a controversial college spring break bash that has previously brought violence and piles of trash to the quiet vacation town. There were 54 arrests during Orange Crush in 2024 and 26 in 2023.

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The Tybee Island Police Department said in a statement that for this year’s festival they are heightening enforcement amid an uptick of teen takeovers plaguing the region.

“Rest assured that we have heard you and that public safety will always be our top priority,” Tybee Island Police Department Capt. Emory Randolph said in a statement to Fox News Digital when asked about residents’ concerns over the upcoming weekend’s festivities.

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“In recent months, stories of so-called ‘teen takeovers’ have popped up across the country,” Tybee Island police said in a Facebook post Tuesday. “This phenomenon hit home just over a week ago, when an unpermitted event on the beach was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Now, as we approach the return of Crush Reloaded, members of our local and online communities have expressed concerns.”

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Beginning on Thursday, the police department said, residents and guests would see an “abundance of law enforcement officers from various state and local agencies converging on the island.”

To maintain order, police are also launching a road safety checkpoint on Highway 80, carving out emergency lanes on main roads and shuttering the 14th and 16th Street parking lots.

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“TIPD is committed to using every available resource to help ensure the safety of our community,” Capt. Randolph said. “Residents and guests can do their part by being kind to one another, obeying the law, and following the instructions of all emergency personnel. Working together, we can continue to make the island an even safer place to live, work, and play.”

WATCH: Teen takeover in Georgia caught on camera

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The move came as nationwide teen takeover events are spreading. Last week, a mass of teens participating in a takeover on Tybee Island was interrupted in panic after police say gunfire broke out along the pier.

According to the Tybee Island Police Department, authorities responded around 6:30 p.m. on April 4, when hundreds of people gathered near the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion area, a popular spot in the laid-back beach community.

WATCH: TYBEE ISLAND TEEN TAKEOVER ERUPTS IN PANIC AFTER POLICE SAY GUNFIRE BROKE OUT ALONG THE PIER

During the course of the “unpermitted, pop-up event,” officers said they heard a single gunshot ring out, and the crowd began to scatter.

Video shared by the department captured hoards of teens running away.

In the early 1990s, Orange Crush had a reputation for being a wild, crime-filled weekend, and Savannah State University disassociated with the event in 1991 because of the high number of arrests and reports of violence.

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Three years ago, the event moved to Jacksonville, Florida, “due to lack of resources, limited parking, civil rights violations and political injustices,” according to a June 2021 story on Jacksonville.com, which cited the event’s website. The website has since been taken down.

The event returned to Tybee Island in 2023 for the first time since 2020.