Roughly half as many people attended the annual Rock the South music festival last weekend compared to 2023 according to city of Cullman officials.

Last year, Rock the South reported upwards of 35,000 attendees for each day with combined totals exceeding more than 100,000 for the entire three-day event. Cullman Fire Chief Darren Peeples reported “about half” as many people were present for this year’s festival while updating the Cullman City Council Monday, July 22.

“Attendance hasn’t been below 20,000 since they moved the festival from Heritage Park [in 2019], but that was probably right at 20,000,” Peeples said.

Councilmember Clint Hollingsworth said he had received reports showing 17,000 in attendance Thursday, July 18, and a peak of around 20,000 for the final day of the festival Saturday, July 20.

Messages sent to Rock the South for official attendance reports have not been responded to as of press time.

Peeples said a higher level of coordination between first responders and the festival’s organizers, 46 entertainment, meant fewer incidents for first responders. He said there had been reports of several “minor scuffles,” but only 14 arrests were made in connection to the festival and 13 individuals had been trespassed from the property.

Juvenile arrests were more frequent with a total of 33 during the course of the weekend. Mayor Woody Jacobs said he believed this was, in part, due to the efforts of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board verifying the age of festival goers possessing alcohol outside of the festival.

“They were popping them,” Jacobs said. “It wasn’t a thing where they would let them just pour it out either. They were arresting them.”

Other numbers reported showed 896 individuals received minor medical treatment, 173 received more serious on-site medical treatment and 13 were required to be transported to Cullman Regional by ambulance.