Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
The City of Gulf Shores appears to be coming closer to a conclusion about the future of Hangout Music Festival.
According to agenda documents, Gulf Shores City Council at its work session on Monday, July 21, will discuss an ordinance amendment that would extend the contract to bring Hangout to Gulf Shores Public Beach for at least the next two years.
The proposal would establish an initial extension for 2026 and allows for a mutually agreed extension term through 2027. If approved, the music festival, which “reinforces Gulf Shores’ role as a destination for recreation, music and tourism,” according to the agenda item summary, would take place May 14-17, 2026, with the site being used May 4-21, 2026, and an optional May 20-23, 2027, with the site being used May 10-27, 2026.
The shortened two-year contract would give both parties time to reach “mutually agreeable terms and conditions for a long-term franchise agreement commencing after the expiration of this agreement.”
Community mitigation measures outlined say festival organizers would work to address the impact the festival has on the local community, such as noise, waste and traffic. One point noted is they would coordinate with Gulf State Park for free parking for Gulf Shores residents.
Hangout Music Festival began in 2010 as an extension of Jimmy Buffet’s benefit concert after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The current organizer, AEG Presents, signed onto the franchise in 2015 for the contract that expired this year with a revised brand called Sand in My Boots, a “highly positive cultural and economic impact” that was curated and headlined by country music superstar Morgan Wallen.
The 2025, three-day event contributed $2.2 million in direct revenue to the city’s budget. Tickets sold out in 90 minutes.
“Public feedback, gathered through a resident survey and a town hall meeting, demonstrated strong community support for continuing the event,” the agenda item reads.
The ordinance allows for Hangout organizers to “opt to produce a music festival that differs from previous formats,” as it did with Sand in My Boots.
Feedback from this year’s rendition of the festival pointed positively to an older group of attendees with less arrests. Though the lineup has evolved almost continuously since 2010, this year’s artists were largely country and rap/hip hop.
Some community members and at least one councilman have been outspoken against the festival, pointing to attendees engaging in drinking and profanity.
The proposed ordinance amendment says all parties acknowledge Hangout “has no control over what musical acts are available to perform at the Music Fests and/or who purchases tickets to the Music Fests and therefore it is unable to guarantee a specific audience composition for the Music Fests.”
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.