Page 97 - Play Coastal Mississippi - Winter, 2025

“There is perhaps, no better example of a community that, when life handed it lemons, it made it lem- onade -- twice. This once sleepy Gulf Coast beach town was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina -- and after heroically building its commercial district back up, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill struck and COVID, keeping tourists away and devasting the local economy.
But under the guidance of Ocean Springs Main Street and its close allies, the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Bureau, Ocean Springs is again sitting pretty. Together, their hard work and vision has helped line the town’s leafy streets with galleries and studios of all kinds, public art displays, and an array of restaurants that delight locals and visitors alike. They even rescued a historic high school from the wrecking ball and facilitated its conversion into a community arts center beloved that folks can hardly imagine life before it. No longer just an out-of-the-way beach town, Ocean Springs is now squarely on the map as a quirky arts mecca that is worth traveling too -- or calling home.”
COMMUNITY CALENDAR OF EVENTS
®
FEBRUARY
Ocean Springs Elks Parade & Krewe Unique February 15th at 1 p.m.
Downtown
Ocean Springs Night Parade
February 28th at 7 p.m.
Downtown
MARCH
St Paddy’s Day Celebration March 15th 10 a.m.–until
Downtown, Uptown, All Around Town
Spring Arts Festival
March 22nd from 9a.m.-5p.m. & March 23rd from 9a.m.-4 p.m. Artist Demostration, Music
& More
Downtown
(228) 875-4424
Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce - Main Street - Tourism Bureau
1000 Washington Avenue, Ocean Springs, MS 39564
www.oceanspringschamber.com • /oceanspringschamberofcommerce
COASTALMISSISSIPPI.COM
#ILoveOS WINTER 2025 I PLAY COASTAL MISSISSIPPI 97