ATLANTIC BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Atlantic Beach town leaders hope a new beach concert and entertainment tent will increase attendance at its annual Memorial Day Bike Fest.
The concert is expected to bring in at least 3,000 people and in response, organizers of the Memorial Day Bike Fest have called for an increased police presence.
Atlantic Beach officials say attendance was down at last year’s festival, but the event still brought in about 15,000 people.
Law enforcement officials say while it’s impossible to know how big the crowds will be this year, they’re staying prepared.
“It’s really hard to gauge the numbers, we prepare for large numbers and scale back if we don’t need to during the actual event,” Randy Webster, Horry County Emergency Management Director. “The concert’s the first time we’ve had an organized event go on in Atlantic Beach in a long time outside the normal activities they do, so hopefully it will be a venue for folks to go in particular.”
Thousands of people pass through Atlantic Beach during Memorial Day Weekend but organizers say they only stay an average of 45 minutes, so the idea is to add entertainment to keep them in town longer.
“What we’re looking to is getting a concentrated effort through the entertainment venues of people to come and stay for concerts and musical activities on the beach so we’re hoping those numbers increase dramatically,” said Benjamin Quattlebaum, town manager of Atlantic Beach.
Organizers want the event to be a celebration of the area’s musical past when black entertainers often frequented the town.
“It has a rich musical history and we’re trying to recreate and bring that back,” said Quattlebaum.
They’ve also changed the name of the weekend to the Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival to re-brand it in a more positive light.
“We’re not excluding bikers, we’re trying to make it a broader festival,” said Quattlebaum.
Expecting the crowds to expand this year, Atlantic Beach leaders say they’ve lined up the help of SLED to increase the police presence for the concert.
Randy Webster says Horry County is committing the same amount of officers as last year.
“If there’s other resources that need to be brought in, we’ll be able to respond to that,” said Webster.
The festival has been around for more than 30 years and organizers want to make sure it stays vibrant and safe.
The concert will happen the Friday and Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend. The lineup features R&B, gospel and jazz musicians. A smaller kick-off event will be held in an entertainment tent on Thursday. Tickets are on sale now.
