MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach City Council proposed the idea of moving Carolina Country Music Fest to an earlier date in the coming years, as a way to help relieve the strain on city staff and law enforcement.
Council made the suggestion after giving final approval for the festival’s special events permit in Tuesday’s workshop.
There are so many events in the city leading up to CCMF, it creates a strain on city resources. Myrtle Beach City Spokesperson Mark Kruea says, “It just gets extremely busy. Three and four events some weekends in fact, so it’s a stretch for our police officers our firefighters our parks people our public works people who do all that they need to do to make those events possible.”
And when you add bike fest and the influx of tourists, Myrtle Beach Police Chief Warren Gall says late May to early June is one of the department’s busiest times of the year. “It is a very stressful time, it stretches our officers they’re working a lot of over time. Nothing else stops, the world doesn’t stop because of these events. We still have to deal with the normal, daily things that we deal with,” says Chief Gall.
In Tuesday’s city council workshop, Councilman Mike Lowder suggested moving CCMF to an earlier date, which Chief Gall says he favors. “Oh absolutely, it definitely would help and we understand there are other things that come into play, such as the availability of the entertainers … but certainly if we could spread it out and not have to do over and over on top of each other, it would help us out.”
However, CCMF event coordinator Amie Lee says its unlikely. She says business leaders in Myrtle Beach agree the festival can provide the greatest economic benefit in June. “There’s an estimated 21 million dollar impact, and it’s definitely at a time when Myrtle Beach needs it. It’s always up for discussion but I think at this time we think that June is the best month to hold the event here.”
This year’s Carolina Country Music Fest will go on as scheduled from June 8-11.
