Sand in My Boots Festival: 2025 Recap & 2026 Cancellation

If you’ve been following the Gulf Shores music scene, you already know the name change. But the story behind the Sand in My Boots festival goes deeper than a rebrand.

First edition: May 16–18, 2025 ·
Location: Gulf Shores, Alabama, USA ·
Capacity estimate: 40,000 attendees ·
Founder/Curator: Morgan Wallen ·
Original name: Hangout Music Festival (rebranded 2025)

A summary of the festival’s core data.

Will the Sand in My Boots festival happen in 2026?

Official statements on 2026

• Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft stated clearly: “We will not have an event in 2026” (Billboard, music industry publication).
• Grant Brown, the city’s Recreation and Cultural Affairs director, added that “AEG Presents made the decision not to hold a music festival in 2026, and the city supports that” (People, national news outlet).
• The decision was officially communicated at a Gulf Shores city council meeting on December 8, 2025.

Rumors and speculations

• Some online chatter speculated that low ticket sales or artist disputes caused the cancellation, but no official source supports that.
• The most credible explanation remains the timing of the permit application: organizers applied too late to book the caliber of acts the city requires (Taste of Country, country music news site).

What the 2027 rental listing suggests

• A Gulf Shores vacation rental listing reportedly cites “Music Fest May 20–23, 2027,” fueling speculation about a return.
• The city council has already approved a music festival permit for 2027, but the brand and organizer remain unconfirmed (WEAR-TV, local news).

The implication: Gulf Shores will have a year without the summer music tourism that has been a staple for over a decade.

Where was the Sand in My Boots festival held?

Gulf Shores, Alabama venue

The festival took place on the sugar-sand beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama – the same location that hosted Hangout Music Festival for over a decade. The official tourism site confirmed the beachfront setup (Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, destination marketing organization).

Beachside layout

• Stages were set up along the Gulf shoreline, with the main stage facing the ocean.
• Attendees had access to both the beach and adjacent parking areas.
• The footprint matched the Hangout Festival layout, including the iconic beach entry.

Previous Hangout Festival footprint

Hangout Music Festival occupied the same beach area from 2010 through 2024. The Sand in My Boots festival reused the existing site infrastructure, which simplified logistics for the one-year takeover.

The pattern: every major festival at this site has faced a reset, and the continuity of the physical footprint remains the one constant.

Why was Hangout 2026 cancelled and what does it mean for Sand in My Boots?

Hangout Festival takes a break in 2026

The Hangout Music Festival, which ran annually from 2010, will not return in 2026. The city’s decision to allow a one-year rebrand to Sand in My Boots effectively put the Hangout name on hold.

Rebrand to Sand in My Boots as one-year experiment

In October 2024, organizers announced that the 2025 edition would be called “Sand in My Boots,” a country-focused festival curated by Morgan Wallen. It was explicitly framed as a one-year takeover, not a permanent renaming (Sand In My Boots Festival Info, official info page).

Organizer strategy

AEG Presents, the promoter behind both Hangout and Sand in My Boots, opted for a short-term brand shift rather than a full-scale cancellation. The 2026 pause appears to be a strategic reset – giving the city and organizers time to reevaluate the festival model for Gulf Shores.

What this means: AEG and the city are essentially buying a year to design a sustainable long-term format.

How many people attended the Sand in My Boots festival?

2025 attendance figures

• Official reports put attendance at roughly 40,000 people (WEAR-TV, local news).
• The event was reported as a sell-out, meaning all 40,000 tickets were purchased.

Capacity comparisons with Hangout

Hangout Music Festival typically drew between 35,000 and 40,000 daily attendees in its peak years. Sand in My Boots matched that capacity, suggesting the change of focus from indie/rock to country didn’t hurt turnout.

The catch: strong attendance alone does not guarantee a return unless the business model and city requirements align.

Did Sand in My Boots sell out and what was the lineup?

Ticket sales status

Yes, the 2025 festival sold out all 40,000 tickets, according to local news reports (WEAR-TV).

Headliners: Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn, HARDY, Morgan Wallen

The official lineup included Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn, and HARDY as headliners, with a deep supporting cast of 34 additional acts (Big Loud, label/management firm). Notable names included 2 Chainz, 3 Doors Down, Bailey Zimmerman, Diplo, Future Islands, Riley Green, Three 6 Mafia, and Wiz Khalifa.

The pattern: the mix of genres signals that future festivals at this site will likely need to balance broad appeal with the city’s quality standards.

Eight specs capture the festival’s identity and current status at a glance.

Timeline of events

• October 2024: Sand in My Boots festival announced as a one-year takeover of Hangout Music Festival (Sand In My Boots, official site)
• May 16–18, 2025: First Sand in My Boots festival held in Gulf Shores, Alabama (Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism)
• December 8, 2025: Gulf Shores city council announces no 2026 music festival (People, national news outlet)
• Later in December 2025: City council approves a music festival permit for 2027 (WEAR-TV, local news)

Voices from the decision

“We will not have an event in 2026.”

— Robert Craft, Mayor of Gulf Shores, quoted in Billboard

“AEG Presents made the decision not to hold a music festival in 2026, and the city supports that.”

— Grant Brown, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Director, Gulf Shores, quoted in People

For Gulf Shores, the trade-off is clear: approve a 2027 festival with enough lead time to book a lineup that satisfies both the city’s quality standards and the organizers’ economics, or risk losing the summer music tourism that has defined the area for over a decade. For fans, the next move is to watch the permit calendar – and hope that the Sand in My Boots name gets another chance to make an impression.

Related reading

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• Savannah College of Art and Design: Cost, Prestige, Value (coastal Southern education context)

For those looking for another camping country music experience, the Boots and Hearts festival in Ontario offers a similar vibe with its August 2025 dates and headliners.

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