Immediately after the City of Gulf Shores announced the cancellation of Hangout Music Festival or Sand in My Boots for 2026, much attention was given to Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon to see what he would have in response.

While multiple reports said he wanted to replace the festival with something of a similar caliber in his neighboring city, Kennon said he understands why Gulf Shores made the decision and that he has "no intentions of trying to compete" with the event.

"It really surprised me one morning and [I saw] all the 'Tony Kennon, the City of Orange Beach is going to put on a music festival in place of Hangout Festival,'" he said. "I don't know how that got started, but there's no plans whatsoever. I just found out last week that they weren't going to have it."

After Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft made a brief announcement at the end of the Dec. 8 city council meeting that no festival would take place next year due to the country-themed artists the city and production company agreed to focus on were not confirmed, other media outlets reached out to Kennon asking if he would put on an event that weekend, which is the lead up to Memorial Day weekend and the summer tourism season.

He said he wasn't sure if the City of Orange Beach would be able to guarantee anything, as planning an event of a similar magnitude to Hangout is "a tall order." If Orange Beach were to plan anything for May 14-17, it would be something smaller in scale and for one year only.

Kennon said a potential event would likely be mostly musical acts, but he didn't want to promise anything as "most big acts are booked."

Booked acts is what caused the cancelation of Hangout 2026 in the first place, as festival organizers were unable to secure artists like those seen at this year's Sand in My Boots, Morgan Wallen's curated, country-themed lineup that was held in lieu of Hangout Fest by the same production company, AEG Presents.

Craft was previously quoted by GCM saying, "We will refuse to let them go back to the acts we've had before, so they couldn't do it. 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."

Shortly after the announcement was made about the decision, Sand in My Boots posted on social media that any festival was "never planned to return next year."

As previously reported by GCM in an article on a public input meeting Gulf Shores held on the future of Hangout/Sand in My Boots, announcements promoting Morgan Wallen's involvement this year noted he would likely not be able to perform every year because of his tour schedule. Wallen's website currently lists his 2026 tour running from April to August. He has eight performances scheduled for May, including two shows during the time Hangout would have been held.

His tour schedule was announced at the end of October.

Kennon said Orange Beach is not trying to "take over or replace" Hangout or Sand in My Boots if an event were to come to fruition.

"Like I said, if we can do something for one year, just to have something for folks to come to, then we will," Kennon said. "… If we've got pretty weather and we've got nobody else on the books, why not try?"

If Orange Beach were to plan an event in May, an announcement will be made "sooner rather than later."