Morgan Wallen‘s Sand in My Boots Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama, will not return in 2026, according to city officials and executives at AEG.
The mayor of Gulf Shores originally told the City Council that the 2026 version of the festival was canceled due to a lack of available artists, according to People. During a public meeting, Mayor Robert Craft said, “We will refuse to let them go back to the acts we’ve had before, so they couldn’t do it,” adding, “So they canceled the 2026 event but they’ve got time now to pursue the type of talent we want on our beaches, to invite the right audience that we want on our beaches.”
Craft later clarified his comments, issuing a written statement that read: “The city’s initial 10-year franchise agreement for the Hangout Music Festival was scheduled to conclude following the 2025 event. The city elected to defer consideration of the requested extension until the festival’s outcomes could be evaluated, with input from our residents.”
The country music festival began as Hangout Music Festival, created by A.J. Niland, Shaul Zislin and Lilly Zislin in 2009. In 2015, AEG-owned Goldenvoice entered a partnership to produce the festival and programmed the 40,000-person festival and continued operating the event through 2024 with headliners Lana Del Rey, Zach Bryan and ODESZA. Last year, the festival was rebranded with Morgan Wallen as the title artist, with support from Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn, Hardy, T-Pain, Diplo, The War on Drugs, 3 Doors Down and Future Islands.
Craft added that “this year’s festival received overwhelming community support, and in late July, the City Council approved a two‑year extension” for the festival to return in May 2026. “However, the compressed timeline created by this decision did not provide organizers sufficient runway to produce a successful festival in 2026. As a result, the producers have elected not to proceed with a 2026 event.”
Officials with AEG issued their own statement about the festival, telling Billboard, “The decision to not move forward with a festival for 2026 was tied to Hangout Festival and the permitting approval timeline for the site. We will share news about future events at the site at the appropriate time.”
Craft noted that Gulf Shores officials expected the festival to return in 2027, noting, “We appreciate that they are being thoughtful in creating a lineup that will be impactful to our local economy. All parties are focused on planning a strong and well‑executed music festival, and we look forward to welcoming them back in 2027.”
