Local law enforcement agencies made 113 individual arrests and filed 126 criminal charges over the four-day run of this year’s Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, according to statistics compiled by the Gulf Shores Police Department.
The figures represent a sharp increase from the previous year, when Gulf Shores police reported 32 individual arrests and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office charged an additional 33 people at the beachfront venue, meaning this year’s combined total roughly doubled prior numbers.
The largest single category of arrests involved unlawful possession of a controlled substance, accounting for 39 bookings, followed by public intoxication with 32 arrests. Other charges included 13 counts of second-degree marijuana possession, six counts of drug paraphernalia possession and 11 arrests for minors in possession of alcohol.
A full breakdown released by police also included a smaller number of more serious charges: one count of carrying a pistol without a license, one count of third-degree domestic violence, one count of second-degree theft of property, one count of third-degree theft of property, and one case involving the use of false identification to obstruct justice. Additional charges covered resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, criminal littering, leaving the scene of a traffic accident, and outstanding warrants or failures to appear in court. Two people were also cited for operating a business without a license, and two others for sleeping in a vehicle, both city ordinance violations.
Despite the higher arrest total, a Gulf Shores police spokesman said the event ran smoothly overall, crediting improvements made since the festival’s launch in 2010. He said the city and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office streamlined the onsite booking process this year, which helped agencies process the larger number of arrests without major disruption. Traffic flow around the venue was also described as notably improved, with officials pointing to the festival’s shuttle system as a key factor in easing congestion during the multi-day event.
The Hangout Music Festival draws tens of thousands of visitors to the Gulf Shores public beach each spring, making it one of the largest annual events on the Alabama Gulf Coast and a significant undertaking for local police, fire and emergency services. Coordinating security, medical response and crowd management across the four-day event requires cooperation between multiple agencies, including city police, the county sheriff’s office and festival organizers.
Officials did not indicate any major policy changes planned for future festivals, though the year-over-year jump in arrest numbers is likely to factor into planning discussions ahead of next year’s event as the festival continues to grow in size and attendance.