including Chris Young, Thomas Rhett,
Cam, Kelsea Ballerini, Old Dominion
and Rascal Flatts.
Now, as the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam
readies what will be their biggest event
to date, perhaps no one is more excited
than 2016 Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam
performer, Jake Owen.
“I’m excited to be a part of this
year’s Gulf Coast Jam. I can’t think of
a better way to close out the summer
than with one last big beach party,”
Owen says. “And, to be back in my
home state of Florida makes it even
better. Let’s do this!”
Rendy Lovelady, Pepsi Gulf Coast
Jam Executive Producer, promises this
year’s event will be the best one yet,
thanks in part to the artists gracing the
stage this year.
“The first thing is, the talent budget’s
literally about three times what it was
our first year,” Lovelady says. “Jake
Owen is really familiar with Florida.
He has a lot of pull in the Florida area.
That’s home. That’s the biggest thing.
The other thing is, every year, based
on the success of the festival, we add
more events. More side areas. More
things for people to do other than just
music. We’ve added different levels of
entertainment.”
Fans who attended last year’s Pepsi
Gulf Coast Jam will have even more
to entice them to return this year,
including a huge video wall so every
seat, from anywhere in the park, is a
good seat, as well as the ever-popular
Happy Hour, with even bigger artists
and more drink specials.
But most importantly, Lovelady
hopes fans come to not only hear
the country music, but enjoy all that
Panama City Beach has to offer.
“We’re trying to really push the local
community,” he says. “You don’t have
to be with us until 2:30, so make sure
you go eat at a great breakfast place,
and you go shopping and you go play
golf or you go fishing. We wanted to
really impress to the people how great
the restaurants and the shopping areas
and the fishing and golf areas around
Panama City Beach are. It’s more than
just going to the beach.”
Lovelady was inspired to host the
festivals in Panama City Beach after
scouring dozens of other locations
and realizing that a large population
of country music fans were already
gathered in the Florida Panhandle or
frequently vacationing in the area.
“We wanted to try and find
something like the New Orleans Jazz
Fest, where you have a destination
location, and they have a reason to
come to the city,” Lovelady notes. “You
have a sufficient airport to handle the
city, but then you can also find the land
that we wanted to have 35,000 people.
We looked everywhere, and Panama
City Beach was the best fit.”
The mutual love affair between
country music and Panama City
Beach is a long one. Kenny Chesney
got his feet wet playing at the famed
Spinnaker’s, before his career exploded,
and he was replaced by then-newcomer
Luke Bryan, launching Bryan’s
successful seven-year run headlining
his annual Spring Break shows in 2009.
Justin Moore met his wife of nine years,
Kate Moore, during a senior class trip
on the famous white sands, and Kip
Moore hosted two Spring Break Bash
appearances at Panama City Beach’s
Walmart in 2012, performing a couple