Gulf Coast Jam Rescheduled For June 2022 Amid Rising COVID Cases

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Here we go again.

Concert season just seemed to be getting back to normal after last year’s hiatus due to the pandemic. But amidst a rise in COVID cases around the country, we’ve started to see artists and venues imposing restrictions and beginning to rethink their fall tour schedule.

And today, Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City Beach announced that they would be canceling their 2021 festival due the recent surge in cases and would be rescheduling for June 3-5, 2022.

“Due to the ongoing public health emergency caused by the current growth of Covid-19 cases in Bay County, Florida and across the country, the 9th Annual Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, scheduled for September 3-5, 2021 in Panama City Beach, has been moved to June 3-5, 2022.”

This year’s festival was scheduled for September 3-5, and was set to feature headliners Chris Stapleton, Old Dominion and Brooks & Dunn, along with artists like Gary Allan, Scotty McCreery, Randy Rogers Band and Tracy Lawrence.

The announcement also comes on the heels of Bonnaroo announcing that they will require all attendees to either provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for entry to the festival, which as of right now is still scheduled to take place next month.

It’s also a little ironic that Gulf Coast Jam is one of the first dominos to fall during this round of cancellations, when last year they were one of the last festivals to cancel after most others pulled the plug early on in the pandemic. (The 2020 Gulf Coast Jam was eventually rescheduled too, finally taking place in June 2021).

It’s obviously still to be determined whether we’ll see the massive cancellations that we saw last year, especially considering that around half the country is already vaccinated.

But at this point, we’re definitely headed in the wrong direction.

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