Spring arrives early on the Gulf Coast, and by the first week of April the azaleas have usually peaked, the live oaks are shedding pollen and the festival calendar is filling fast. The April 2024 festivals across coastal Alabama and Northwest Florida made the most of that season, with fine art at Gulf State Park, free jazz under the oaks of Seville Square, kites over the USS Alabama, mountains of crawfish in Pensacola and the famously unusual Interstate Mullet Toss at the Flora-Bama. This look back at that month highlights events that many residents treat as fixtures of spring.
The weeks between Easter and the start of summer are some of the most pleasant of the year here. Temperatures are warm but not oppressive, the Gulf is starting to turn blue-green again and outdoor events can run all day without the heat that makes summer festivals a test of endurance. It is no surprise that organizers crowd so much into April.
A Road Trip Worth Taking: Hogs for the Cause
Before turning to the local lineup, one regional event deserved a mention: Hogs for the Cause on April 5 and 6, 2024, in New Orleans. The music festival and barbecue competition was entering its 16th year, with all proceeds supporting families and funding research for those affected by pediatric brain cancer. The event’s 2023 fundraising total, a record, was $3.6 million.
Hogs for the Cause has become a popular pilgrimage for Gulf Coast barbecue teams and music fans alike. Teams compete for bragging rights while raising money, and the festival combines serious pitmaster competition with a lineup of Southern rock, funk and roots acts. For Mobile and Baldwin County residents, New Orleans is an easy two-and-a-half-hour drive west on Interstate 10.
Ballyhoo Festival at Gulf State Park
Closer to home, the Ballyhoo Festival was held April 6 and 7 at the Lake Shelby picnic area in Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores. The festival, which had been rescheduled to those dates, set itself apart with a focus on fine art, paired with the cultural charm and fun-loving spirit of coastal Alabama.
Visitors found fine art vendors from across the Southeast, a variety of local seafood and live music throughout both days. A highlight was the Banjo and Fiddle Competition on Sunday, in which the top three scorers in each age bracket won cash prizes.
Gulf State Park is a fitting host. The roughly 6,500-acre state park stretches along the beach between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and includes Lake Shelby, a freshwater lake just a short walk from the Gulf, along with miles of paved trails, a fishing and education pier, a campground and a lodge. A spring art festival on the lake’s shore gives visitors a reason to explore a part of the park many beachgoers never see.
The 41st Pensacola JazzFest in Seville Square
On the same weekend, April 6 and 7, the 41st Annual Pensacola JazzFest filled Seville Square in downtown Pensacola. Presented by Jazz Pensacola, the two-day festival is free and features local school bands, regional acts and national headliners.
Seville Square, shaded by enormous live oaks and surrounded by the historic buildings of the Seville Historic District, is one of the most atmospheric outdoor venues on the coast. Its gazebo stage has served as the festival’s centerpiece for years. Along with the music, visitors found food from local vendors, wine, beer and soft drinks, arts and crafts, and jazz merchandise such as posters, shirts and memorabilia. Organizers note that merchandise sales help keep the festival free.
For more than four decades, JazzFest has been one of the clearest signs that spring has arrived in Pensacola, and its emphasis on student performers helps build the next generation of jazz musicians in the region.
Kites Over Mobile at Battleship Memorial Park
The following weekend, April 13 and 14, the 4th Annual Kites Over Mobile festival took over the grounds of the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. The two-day event featured live music, professional kite-flying demonstrations, show kite displays, kites for sale on site, face painting and other family activities.
The setting is hard to beat. Battleship Memorial Park sits on the Mobile Bay Causeway, where open ground and a steady breeze off the water make for ideal kite conditions. The park’s centerpiece, the World War II battleship USS Alabama, has been a museum ship since the 1960s, and the park also displays the submarine USS Drum and a collection of military aircraft. Watching giant show kites drift above the battleship’s gun turrets is one of the more memorable sights of a Mobile spring.
Crawfish and a Flying Fish to Close the Month
The last weekend of April offered two very different Gulf Coast experiences, both running April 26 through 28.
In Pensacola, the Pensacola Crawfish Festival returned to Seville Square with thousands of pounds of boiled crawfish from Louisiana, supplied by local Cordova Crawfish Company. The Cajun menu extended to boudin, jambalaya, etouffee, gumbo and fresh and fried seafood. Live music ran all three days, and arts and crafts vendors lined the square. Adult admission was $5 per day, children 6 to 12 paid $2 and children 5 and under entered free.
Meanwhile, on the state line at Perdido Key, the Flora-Bama Lounge hosted its annual Interstate Mullet Toss. Held the last full week of April, the event challenges contestants to throw a mullet from Florida into Alabama across the state line, with the longest toss winning. It sounds like a joke, and it is meant to be fun, but it also has a serious side: proceeds benefit local youth charities. Thousands of spectators turn out each year for the tossing, live music and beach-party atmosphere.
The Flora-Bama, which straddles the Alabama-Florida line on Perdido Key, has been a landmark of Gulf Coast nightlife for decades, famous for its songwriting tradition and its offbeat events. The Mullet Toss is its most famous, drawing regional and national media coverage.
Two Downtown Seafood Restaurants Near the Action
Visitors heading to Seville Square or downtown Mobile for spring events have two well-known seafood restaurants close at hand: Chuck’s Fish in Mobile and Dharma Blue in Pensacola. Both were created by Charles Morgan III, the founder of Harbor Docks in Destin, Florida, and both are Gulf-to-table restaurants featuring fresh seafood, hand-cut steaks and traditional sushi bars. Their seafood comes from the group’s wholesale market in Destin.
Chuck’s Fish is named for Morgan’s father, Chuck Morgan, a prominent civil rights attorney whose career is chronicled in many books about the 1960s. The Mobile location opened in 2017 on Dauphin Street. Dharma Blue, across from Seville Square in Pensacola, opened in 1996. The sushi programs at both are overseen by Chef Yoshie Eddings of Tokyo, who was trained early by her father and comes from a family of restaurateurs in that city.
Planning for a Future Spring
Most of these April events recur each year, though dates, locations, prices and lineups can change, and the Ballyhoo Festival’s 2024 rescheduling is a reminder that weather and logistics sometimes intervene. Anyone planning to attend a future edition should confirm current details with the organizers.
- Pack sunscreen and a hat. April sun on the coast is stronger than it feels.
- Expect pollen. Live oaks and pines release heavy pollen in early spring.
- Bring a chair or blanket for free concerts such as JazzFest.
- Plan for traffic on Perdido Key during the Mullet Toss weekend.
From art and jazz to kites, crawfish and a flying fish, the April 2024 calendar captured the playful, generous character of the Gulf Coast in springtime.