Running it back?
It’s safe to say that the first – and possibly only – edition of Morgan Wallen‘s Sand In My Boots Festival was a massive success.
The festival took place back in May as a one year takeover of the annual Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The lineup featured Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn and HARDY, as well as a wide range of artists from different genres including Riley Green, Wiz Khalifa, T-Pain, Chase Rice, 49 Winchester, and Three 6 Mafia.
It was clear that the festival was going to be a hit after tickets sold out less than two hours after going on sale. And after the festival wrapped up, it seems that it may have set the standard for future festivals in Gulf Shores.
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft had high praise for the crowd that the festival brought in:
“My analogy has been, my own personal thoughts, in the past, we had young kids with their daddy’s credit card here and not a whole lot for them to worry about. They were on a free leash. So this year we had an older group that had their own credit card. And you could certainly see that they were more disciplined. There were less problems…
Really it was a much better behaving crowd.”
The Gulf Shores city council recently reviewed a proposal on whether or not to allow Hangout Festival to return in 2026, and the city’s director of economic development and public affairs made it clear that they expect the same type of crowd at future festivals or they may not grant them a permit to return in the future:
“Festival agrees the 2025 SIMB festival will serve as a benchmark for the type of event they shall offer in order to attract a similar audience to provide a positive reputational and economic impact for the community.”
The city ultimately approved a one year extension for the festival, which the mayor says will serve as a test for the future:
“Those conditions are going to be along the lines of, create the same group that we had this year… So we’re going to have to get comfortable that they’re going to be able to recreate that group of people we had on the beach, because it was dramatically different…
We have made it really clear. The only one we’re worried about right now is ’26. Can they do what they’re supposed to do, in ’26. The motivating factor there, if you can do it right, we can go forward. If you don’t, it’s over.”
Of course that didn’t necessarily mean that Sand In My Boots would be returning for 2026. But it seems that we may have a hint on the future of the festival – and it looks like it could be returning for round 2.
The Sand In My Boots Festival shop page has recently been updated to say “Coming Soon” and “See You In 2026.”
Now, there’s been no official announcement, and the return of the festival hasn’t been confirmed, but it seems like there’s a good chance that if you missed out on going down to Gulf Shores this year, you’re going to have another chance in 2026.
