Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – For the 50th edition of the National Shrimp Festival, organizers are getting ready for the largest yet at the annual beach party on Oct. 12-15 at the public beach in Gulf Shores.

“We’re going to have 41 bands, more than 30 food vendors, close to 300 vendors,” Shrimp Festival Chairman Andrew Hart told the city council on Aug. 28. “The footprint is a little bit larger this year just due to all the interest that we have and a lot based off of the success that we had last year. We’re looking forward to another great year.”

Work on the festival grounds will start on Sunday, Oct. 8 and over the course of the next few days limited access to the area and the beach will slowly increase until opening on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. During the regular session, the council unanimously approved an assembly permit for the event.

With perhaps the largest crowd ever for the festival, parking will be at a premium because of construction in the Beach Walking District area.

“As you can imagine with the shrinking available of large collective parking lots due to the Embassy Suites construction and other activity at the beach,” Director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs Grant Brown said. “It’s harder to get to the beach.”

To that end, the festival will bring back a bike valet service started last year to try and encourage people to ride to the festival to help with parking and congestion.

“The festival is actually ramping up their bike valet service,” Brown said. “The chamber’s Junior Leadership Program will be handling it, free bike parking which will be monitored by staff. Last year they parked a total of 555 bikes and this service will once again be expanded for this year’s festival. We’re encouraging people to use the shuttle services or to use bicycles to get to the site safely.”

Click here for more information on shuttle stops and parking.

During the meeting, the council also:

Approved expense vouchers in the amount of $2.1 million including $918,000 for a new fire engine.

Approved an assembly permit for the Collegiate Beach Clash women’s sand volleyball tournament on Oct. 6-7 also at the public beach.

Gave the go-ahead for a conditional use permit and site plan for the Galway Public House at the northwest corner of East Second Street and East 22nd Avenue.

Approved an increase in the matching funds for a grant from the FAA for the airport authority to purchase an aircraft rescue and firefighting apparatus. The grant is for just more than $1 million and the city budgeted $50,000 for matching funds. The actual matching funds when the grant was approved was $58,947 and the airport authority is asking the council to cover the additional costs.

Appointed Ken Kichler to the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism board of directors to finish the term of Gerald Tipton. It will expire on June 28, 2026. Also, the council reappointed John Eslick to another term on the Beautification Board to another term expiring on Sept. 1, 2026.

Accepted a proposal from McCollough Architecture for preliminary design work on a new Fire Station No. 5 for the city on Coastal Gateway Boulevard for $23,600.

Adopted the city’s 2024 Transportation Plan to become eligible for Rebuild Alabama Gas Tax funds.

Agreed to pay Engineering Design Group $26,200 to design a stormwater pond in the Medical Village subdivision in the same area where the city is planning a new Justice Center.

Amended the purchasing manual changes to increase the threshold amounts on daily purchases, vehicle and equipment repairs, professional services contracts, goods and services including vehicles and public works contracts.

Amended the bid award for the beach renourishment project in Gulf Shores, Gulf State Park and Orange Beach to cover the $1.1 million for mobilization and then removing the equipment. Gulf Shores portion of the $32.7 million project was initially thought to be $17.1 million but the new charges will up the city’s portion to $18. 2 million.

Renewed a contract between the city and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for the Alabama Coastal Area Management Plan. The city will enforce ADEM regulations for the coast and will be reimbursed $65,500 by the state.

Amended an ordinance to increase fees for occupying dwellings or new buildings before receiving a certificate of occupancy from the city. The first offense is a $1,000 fine, the second $2,500 and after a third offense the contractor could face a business license revocation hearing.