After two lost years, the National Shrimp Festival is poised to open Thursday in Gulf Shores. The forecast is fine and it’s safe to say expectations are high.

It’s a year-round effort for those who work to put it on, said longtime volunteer Clayton Wallace, and a year-round focus for people who have made attending it a family tradition. “It’s kind of sobering to listen to people talk and to read the comments of people on social media,” Wallace said. “With a lot of families, it’s generational and it’s important to them. Therefore it’s important to us to be able to keep giving these memories to people.”

“It means a lot of happy residents and a great opportunity for visitors to come to our area and enjoy what locals dream about living for every fall,” said Grant Brown, Gulf Shores’ director of recreation and cultural affairs. “The fall time is just a beautiful time to be in Gulf Shores.”

When the Coastal Alabama Business Chamber canceled its 2020 fest due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supporters hoped it would be a one-time thing. But as variants rose and fell into fall 2021, that year’s fest was called off on relatively short notice. That was a hard situation and “we took some heat,” said Wallace, who is the festival’s media chairman.

Another threat reared its head this year in the form of Hurricane Ian: At one point its projected path had edged far enough westward for the Baldwin County coast to be on the edge of the dreaded cone. “The phone did not stop ringing,” Wallace said.

The callers had little to worry about: The storm passed far away and there seems to be nothing to stop the festival from opening as planned at 10 a.m. Thursday and drawing an audience to rival its biggest years, estimated at about 250,000 over four days.

The core formula is the same: Visitors find free entry into a gulf-side panorama of live entertainment, arts and crafts, food vendors, fine arts and children’s activities. As the event’s name would lead one to expect, many of the vendors specialize in seafood, though standard carnival fare also will be plentiful.

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.

Though the festival site is easy to find at the foot of Ala. 59, suitable parking spaces may not be. Brown and Wallace both strongly encouraged visitors to make use of the festival shuttle service.

“There are so many people that don’t use the shuttle that park in yards or end up getting stuck in the sand, that’s never a fun experience,” said Wallace.

Full shuttle information can be found at www.myshrimpfest.com. Wristbands allowing unlimited rides are $5 and can be ordered in advance through the site. One catch is that children younger than 5 are not allowed on the shuttle buses; organizers say that is determined by state law. Stops include the Pelican Place shopping center, the Erie Meyer Civic Center and Waves Grocery in Gulf Shores; Lake Shelby in Gulf State Park; and The Wharf and Rouses Market in Orange Beach.

A new feature this year is a free bicycle valet program: Patrons who pedal up to the festival’s front entrance will be able to check their bikes with volunteers, who’ll store them securely.

Wallace also encouraged people to take a good look at the festival layout. It went decades with little change, but 2019 was different thanks in part to the city’s renovation of the public beach area.

“We had one year with our new footprint, in 2019, and we’re still in the midst of tweaking it,” Wallace said. “We found some things that worked well in ‘19, we found some things that didn’t work so well, so there are some changes within the footprint.”

Brown added that anyone thinking about staying overnight probably should nail down a reservation in advance. It’s a busy weekend, he said, and it’s possible that Florida residents displaced by Ian still occupy some rooms. ‘It’s hard to quantify but just anecdotally as I’m driving around, I’m seeing an awful lot of Florida tags right now,” he said.

Live music runs throughout the event, with a lineup including many area favorites. Top performances include Azz Izz and Dr. Zarr & The Amazing Funk Monster at 8 p.m. Thursday; tribute acts playing the music of Queen, AC/DC, Bon Jovi and Journey at 7 p.m. Friday; The Velcro Pygmies at 8 p.m. Saturday and Trent Tomlinson at 8:15 p.m. Saturday; and the Hollywood Vagabonds and the Groovinators at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Wallace said patrons in need of assistance need only turn to the event’s staff, who’ll be wearing distinctive Hawaiian-style shirts. “If you have any sort of an issue, whether it be a medical issue, whether it be a lost child, whether it be anything that you require assistance with, grab one of us,” he said. “We all have radios. We can contact anybody that you need to help.”

For full festival information, visit www.myshrimpfest.com.