GULF SHORES — As warm weather starts to arrive, visitors and residents aren't the only ones thinking about the approaching summer as Gulf Shores City Council approves permits for a big event coming to the Alabama coast this May.

May 16, the kickoff date for Morgan Wallen's debut Sand in My Boots music festival, is now close enough for council to look at permits for the event celebrating the 15th anniversary of Hangout Music Festival.

Grant Brown, director of recreation and cultural affairs for Gulf Shores, spoke on the event at council's March 17 work session.

"Within 90 minutes, the event was sold out," Brown said. "So, they've got 40,000 tickets that have been sold, and we're looking forward to having a big music event here in Gulf Shores at the end of May."

The festival dates will be from May 16-18 with a pre-show on May 15 starting at 5 p.m. Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn and Hardy are headlining.

Brown said the organization that is over the event, AEG Presents partnered with Hangout Music Festival, created a "thorough" presentation for their public assembly application, which he presented at the work session.

The festival footprint will be the same used for Hangout in the past by surrounding the Hangout Restaurant, Gulf Shores public beach, surrounding parking lots and public roadways including portions of Highway 59 and Beach Boulevard.

Reeves Price, with AEG Presents, thanked city council for their consideration of the permit. While he made no mention on specifics as far as whether "Hangout Music Festival" would continue, he said "it's been a great run."

"We're really excited about the event. The community's excited about the event from what we're hearing. The artists are excited about the event," Price said. "And (we) look forward to continuing great partnership with y'all."

At the March 24 council meeting where the permit was approved, Brown mentioned how 2025 is the last year of the franchise agreement for the event. In order to have the festival set in Gulf Shores "in 2026 and in maybe years beyond," city council will have to approve a request from the Hangout Music Festival group, which Brown said is weighed on what happens this year.

"This is a year that needs to be a successful year if they want to continue to have this event in Gulf Shores," Brown said. "(There's) more to come, I'm sure."

Also at the March 24 meeting, Councilman Gary Sinak said he attended last year's Hangout Festival. While he was there, he said he heard "God-awful, foul language" during one of the performances. He wasn't sure who was singing.

"I thought part of our conditions for approval was they weren't to do that or talk to their bands (about not swearing in songs)," Sinak said. "We need to reiterate all that because that (sound) goes out to all the neighborhoods, and I just don't think it's proper."

Brown responded saying it was a "difficult challenge" each year at Hangout Fest.

"There are groups and artists that are put into the mix, and the city has some oversight but very limited oversight into which performers can actually perform," Brown said. "There are safety measures within the documents that could cause for us to pull the plug, if you will, on certain artists, (but) we have not done that in the past."

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said the company is "well aware" of how this year's festival will impact a decision to continue the event in Gulf Shores.

"They are transitioning into 'more of a country act.' Something that's a little bit different venue with the Morgan Wallen group bringing in a different type of performance here," Craft said. "Although, it's a mixture, and a lot of bad stuff is still in there that we haven't gotten rid of, but it's absolutely our opportunity to, if we're going to consider something further, we can have and will have more control over what kind of artists they can bring in."

Brown told Sinak he would discuss his concerns with the Sand in My Boots group.

IMPORTANT CLOSURES

The site usage period, or the period where the festival can start building stages and have public areas blocked off, is from April 28 to May 22. Areas will be blocked off little by little as the festival sets up necessary infrastructure such as the stage areas and hospital/emergency response sections.

According to a building plan Brown presented, the public beach surrounding the east stage, the west Gulf Place parking lot and the resident parking lot will be blocked off May 5. The May 5 closures are "immediately following" the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship in Gulf Shores, which will be held on the city's public beach May 2-4.

The remaining public beach surrounding the festival site is set to close May 12. Certain roadways, including a few blocks of Highway 59 and the stretch of Beach Boulevard that runs in front of the Hangout, will be blocked off starting May 13.

The roads will remain closed throughout the event. They are set to temporarily reopen from 6 a.m. to noon on May 19 to ease traffic issues the day after the festival is over. However, the north side of West Beach Boulevard, east of West 4th Street or around Surfside Pizza and Ice Cream, will not be accessible to westbound traffic. Normal traffic patterns will resume on May 20.

Brown said all closed areas will be "returned to the public" before the Memorial Day weekend sets in.

CHANGES NOW AND THROUGH THE YEARS

Brown said the event normally has gates opening at noon with the first performers going on at 1 p.m., but this year it has been changed to gates opening at 11 a.m. with the first performances at noon.

A presentation slide on capacity reads, "site changes implemented in past years have improved crowd flow and alleviated congestion during periods of heavy crowd movement."

"If you've been there, to the event, you'll notice as the stages begin their performances, it's very well-choreographed between the different locations," Brown said. "They actually help crowds flow and move based on the artists and the acts and the times that they put these events on the stages."

Also discussed on the topic of capacity was the "continued growth" of hotels and condos that has led to "ample options for lodging" in the area. Brown also mentioned the shuttle system, operated by TMS, has been effectively used at this festival "for a number of years."

Brown also spoke on noise limitations for the festival.

"Amplified sound ends at 11 p.m. when the festival shuts down," he said. "The sound engineers have done an amazing job of using delay towers and other types of speaker arrays to try to focus the sound into the crowd and not to allow it to permeate outside."

However, if there is a "heavy south wind," the noise from the festival is likely to be heard further from the festival grounds. Brown said this noise could be heard up to the Intracoastal Waterway and to "further parts north."