GALVESTON — Though the Seawall was still shaken by the rumble of heavy engines and supercharged stereos Saturday, police and city officials said dwindling crowds made this year’s Beach Party Weekend manageable.
Basing their estimates on vehicle counts from the Causeway, city officials said Saturday they believed 75,000 people had traveled onto the island since Friday, more than 25,000 fewer than expected.
The es-timate marks the third consecutive year of declining attendance. The estimate is a fraction of the counts reported during the party’s peak years in the late 1990s.
“This is the lowest crowd estimate that I’ve seen for Beach Party in the six years that I’ve been mayor,” Mayor Roger “Bo” Quiroga said Saturday afternoon. “During this event’s peak several years ago, we had crowds of around 250,000. I’ll be very surprised if we get anywhere close to that number this year.”
With fewer visitors to get rowdy, fewer problems arose.
Between 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday, Galveston police logged 39 arrests and sent 11 men to the city jail.
About one third of those arrests were unrelated to Beach Party activities, said Police Chief Kenneth Mack.
“Most of the arrests have been for nuisance crimes — public intoxication, minor assaults and things of that nature,” Mack said. “There have been no major incidents, and traffic has been a lot lighter than expected.”
Five code enforcement officers for the weekend confiscated T-shirts, hats, boxer shorts, sunglasses, compact discs and water from seven street vendors without permits. One vendor was cited for selling food without a permit.
