Two drag boats racing side by side down the Escatawpa River at Moss Point, throwing long white rooster tails

Downtown on the Escatawpa · Race Weekend

Smokin’ theRiver City

Outboard drag boats scream down the Escatawpa at close to 100 miles an hour, right in front of the downtown boardwalk. Free, loud, and pure River City.

Free admissionRiverfront boardwalkFamily friendlyTwo race days
Watch the races Vendors, Volunteers & Info

What it is

The fastest thing on the river.

Once a year, downtown Moss Point turns its riverfront into a race course. Outboard drag boats line up two at a time and tear down a straight stretch of the Escatawpa while the whole River City watches from the boardwalk at the water’s edge. It is sanctioned by the Outboard Drag Boat Association and hosted by Moss Point Main Street, and racers haul in from as far as Texas and the Florida Keys.

No grandstand, no fence line, nothing between you and the water. That closeness is the whole point.

~100miles per hour
660 ftstraight course
600 hpin the biggest classes
2 daysof side-by-side heats

Roll the tape

Feel the river shake.

Sixty seconds of race weekend. Turn the sound up.

From the water and the air

Race weekend, shot in Moss Point.

Aerial view of two drag boats racing down the Escatawpa with twin white wakes
Wide open down the straightaway
A red Allison drag boat leaning into launch beside a competitor on the Escatawpa
Off the line
Spectators watching the races from the shade on the Moss Point riverfront
The riverfront crowd
Drag boats racing past spectators lining the bank
Right off the bank
Two drag boats charging up the river between green banks
Side by side on the Escatawpa
Drag boats streaking away up the river leaving parallel wakes
Gone in seconds

On the day

What to expect.

Racing up close

Watch from the boardwalk with no barrier between you and the water. The vantage is the draw.

Food and vendors

Barbecue, cold drinks, and food trucks line the riverfront between heats.

Live music

Downtown fills with sound all weekend, on the water and off it.

Free and family friendly

No tickets, no cover. Bring the kids, bring a chair, stay all day.

“It’s probably the best spectator sight we have. It fires you up.”
Cameron White, drag boat racer, to WLOX
Two drag boats racing away up the Escatawpa River leaving parallel white wakes

Two boats, one straightaway, the whole River City on its feet.

Watch the run

Why it belongs here

Moss Point has always been a river town.

They call it the River City for a reason. The Escatawpa runs right through downtown, and for generations that water has been where Moss Point works, fishes, and gathers. Smokin’ the River City turns that history all the way up: a homegrown race weekend that puts the riverfront, and the people who love it, on full display.

The race weekend is only a few years old, and it gets bigger every time the boats come back. Racers who could run anywhere on the outboard drag circuit keep choosing this one stretch of Mississippi water, for the crowd as much as the course.

Plan your day

Come down to the water.

  • Downtown riverfront boardwalkAlong the Escatawpa in downtown Moss Point.
  • Race weekendTwo days on the river. Watch our channels for this year’s dates.
  • Always freeNo tickets. Public parking on Main Street and at the City Hall lots.
  • Bring a chairSet up on the boardwalk and settle in for the day.
Vendors, Volunteers & Info See all downtown events

More on the river

While you’re downtown.

Cruisin’ the River City Smokin’ the Sip BBQ Festival Levitt AMP Moss Point Music Series