“Summer has to end eventually,” the organizers of Gulfport’s annual Gecko festivities like to say. “We might as well send it out on a high note.”
From all accounts, the city’s 2026 Gecko Ball, Aug. 29, was one for the record books, as residents came costumed as their favorite pop and rock stars in keeping with this year’s theme, the Gulfport Music Awards.
That spirit will carry over to Saturday’s Gecko Fest, taking up the length and breadth of Beach Boulevard from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Equal parts wacky, wild Mardi Gras-inspired street fair and fun family festival, Gecko Fest is in its 26th year…