Mobile was not the only city along the Alabama Gulf Coast to pull off Mardi Gras with large crowds and few criminal complaints.

In Baldwin County, authorities are reporting that some parades drew record crowds. The total number of major arrests: Zero.

“Overall, I’d say our Mardi Gras season was a success and the overwhelming majority of people the police contacted were happy,” said Daphne Police Sgt. Jason Vannoy. “We had no official complaints made to our department by revelers or organizations.”

Beach parades

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach officials are crediting increase police presence on Fat Tuesday along with positive police-reveler interactions along parade routes.

Both cities host Mardi Gras Day parades. With moderate temperatures in the 70s, large crowds descended along the separate parade routes that run along Alabama State Route 182/Beach Boulevard.

Orange Beach City Administrator Ken Grimes said the Fat Tuesday parade was “a great success with safety a top priority.”

As a bonus, the city’s 45-minute parade was bolstered with new entries from nearby Perdido Key.

“Traffic control is always a challenge with over 2 miles of key roadway to clear and maintain cleared throughout the parade,” City Administrator Ken Grimes said. He estimated 35,000 to 40,000 attended.

“Crowd was friendly and positive as spectators and the relationship was good between city personnel from all departments including police, fire, public works administration and others,” Grimes said.

Grant Brown, spokesman for the City of Gulf Shores, said their parade – held before the Orange Beach parade – featured 30 entries and drew “one of the largest (crowds) I have seen at the parade.” There were no reported issues, Brown said.

“Our enhanced law enforcement presence coupled with good parade management policies created a well-executed traffic control situation,” Brown said.

Gulf Shores, for the second year, hosted the Mardi Gras Day parade on Beach Boulevard. Previous parades rolled along Alabama State Route 59. But city officials opted to move the parade to the beach because of traffic control issues along the busy highway.

The relocation of the parade route occurred five years after a tragic incident at the start of the 2017 Mardi Gras parade in which a man, driving a truck in the parade, claimed to have hit the brake pedal but instead pressed on the accelerator before speeding up and crashing into members of the Gulf Shores marching band. No one was killed, but several students suffered serious injuries.

Brown said last year that the relocation was unrelated to the 2017 parade crash. He said the Beach Boulevard route does not produce the same congestion issues as Route 59.

“One of the benefits to parading on Beach Boulevard is that the time of traffic disruption is reduced significantly compared to shutting down Highway 59,” he said.

Eastern Shore parades

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Maids of Jubilee

In Daphne and Fairhope, multiple night and day parades also drew large crowds with no notable incidences.

The biggest issue, for both cities, is congestion and parking.

Tight parking is an issue in Daphne, where the parades roll along Main Street through Olde Towne Daphne. The city does not have a parking garage, prompting motorists to search for parking within adjoining neighborhoods.

Vannoy said that Saturday’s Shadow Barons parade drew the season’s largest crowd, leading to traffic issues. He said the congestion is “unavoidable given our population increase.”

Related: Maid of Jubilee roll in Fairhope as Mardi Gras goes into high gear

In Fairhope, where the city’s downtown streets are shut down well before an hour ahead of parades, cars are detoured into the neighborhoods where finding a good parking spot can become an elusive quest.

Fairhope Police Lt. Shane Nolte said police had no reports of any issues during the parades and balls, and that “traffic congestion” was the only issue due to “the large number of people who turned out for the parades and given the situation, even that was not bad.”

Also in Fairhope, some residents called on Facebook for the city to lax its restrictions on drinking alcoholic beverages outdoors during special events like Mardi Gras.

The city, in 2018, voted down a proposal to create an entertainment district – which is allowed under Alabama law – within its downtown area. Entertainment districts, which are in cities like Mobile, allow patrons to drink beer and wine outdoors in a designated plastic cup.

Fairhope City Council President Jimmy Conyers said he does not anticipate the city allowing entertainment district exceptions during special events like Mardi Gras and the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Festival, which takes place March 17-19.

“I probably heard a few people talking about it during the parades,” Conyers said about the interest in allowing outdoor drinking during special events. “I think the police department would be strongly against that.”

He said the biggest concern would with people bringing their own liquor to drink in the city’s downtown area.

Conyers said the past ordinance did not regulate alcoholic beverages brought into the city.

“I would be difficult for police to monitor,” he said. “We try to make their lives easier.”