Bless your hearts: Another star-studded country music fest planned for Panama City Beach

PANAMA CITY BEACH − With the goal of boosting tourism this fall, a new music festival is slated for the Beach.

According to Rendy Lovelady, executive producer of the Gulf Coast Jam, he and his business partner Mark Sheldon are gearing up to host Kickoff Jam from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach.

Unlike Gulf Coast Jam, which is overseen by Lovelady and Sheldon's group, PCB Entertainment, Kickoff Jam was organized by Panhandle Events, of which Lovelady also is executive producer.

"Gulf Coast Jam's success helps us have the potential to do another event," Lovelady said. "It really was just how the stars lined up, honestly. ... If there was no Gulf Coast Jam, this would have never happened."

He said the idea for the new concert was sparked by officials with the Panama City Beach Tourist Development Council, who contacted Lovelady last year about creating a new concert to boost tourism in the area during Labor Day weekend.

"(They) were looking for a way for us to get people to stay multiple days in hotels and get bed tax up," he said. "We started looking at something that would be a big enough event to attract a three-day weekend where people would come back to town."

Headliners scheduled to perform at Kickoff Jam are Alabama, Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks. Lovelady said he has been trying to get Brooks to perform at a local event for about three decades.

Kickoff Jam will be the only time patrons can watch Brooks perform outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, this entire year. The lineups for the three-day event are:

• Friday, Aug. 30 − Jamey Johnson, Tyler Farr, Gavin Adcock, Pam Tillis, Catie Offerman and Alabama.

• Saturday, Aug. 31 − NEEDTOBREATHE, Lauren Alaina, Restless Road, Carter Faith, Kayley Green and Carrie Underwood.

• Sunday, Sept. 1 − Randy Houser, Oak Ridge Boys, Rhett Akins, Mackenzie Carpenter, Allie Colleen and Garth Brooks.

Local concert: Gulf Coast Jam 2024 tickets sold out, on track for one of the biggest years yet

Lovelady noted Kickoff Jam will have an attendance cap of about 30,000 people, which is about 5,000 more than Gulf Coast Jam. Gulf Coast Jam will be held May 30 to June 2 at Frank Brown Park. Its tickets already are sold out.

Lovelady also said that if Kickoff Jam is successful enough for it to continue in the future, it might alternate genres each year, rather than strictly being a country music festival like Gulf Coast Jam.

Tickets for Kickoff Jam go on sale April 24 at 10 a.m. They can be purchased by visiting www.kickoffjampcb.com.

"It's exciting," Lovelady said. "Do I think it's a multiple-year event? I don't want to say no because if it turns out to be something worthy of looking at, maybe. ... It was created to try and generate the right amount of numbers to help bring bed tax up, bring attendance up and also to celebrate the whole concept of Labor Day."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Another music fest will bring big country stars to Panama City Beach