TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WSAV) — Tybee Island will be more crowded than usual this weekend, that’s because of the return of the Orange Crush beach bash.

“Come real early and leave early,” that’s the advice from Allen Newkirk who owns The Boardwalk Ice Cream on Tybrisa Street. He says no matter what’s going on there’s always traffic on Tybee Island.

For the first time since 2020, Orange Crush is back this weekend. The City of Tybee expects it to bring even more people to the island.

The city said it will have an all-hands-on-deck approach with extra police, firefighters and code enforcement officers. The HBCU beach bash returns to Tybee after a two-year hiatus.

“There’s a lot of fun being had,” Newkirk said. “It is pretty chaotic, but it’s usually just Saturday, Friday nights, usually not too crazy, but the college kids come in and they have a lot of fun and then they usually, they start leaving Sunday morning.”

The city said the major traffic change for this weekend is that drivers won’t be allowed to take left turns on 15th and Tybrisa streets. The city will also work with the traffic app Waze to send updates and keep drivers informed.

Newkirk said Tybee is already a crowded spot during the spring and summer. Parking could be a pain, restaurants are expected to be packed and you should plan on adding some extra time to your drive.

“You can only fit so many people on the Island no matter what weekend it is, and that’s just about every other weekend during the summer,” Newkirk said. “So I can’t imagine how you can fit any more on Orange Crush weekend versus any other weekend. So it’ll be a lot of people and the island will be packed.”

Orange Crush starts on Friday and runs through Sunday so if you’re hitting the beach this weekend you should plan ahead and be prepared for heavy traffic.

Since 1988, Orange Crush has largely taken place on Tybee Island. Originally, Savannah State University sponsored the beach bash but the school severed ties in 1991 after a string of arrests associated with the event.