Gulf Coast Jam on the horizon

PANAMA CITY — Executive Producer Rendy Lovelady and his staff have been arriving at Frank Brown Park at 4:30 a.m. all week in preparation for Friday's kick off of the sixth annual Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam.

"I'm pretty much here from sunup till after midnight now until the festival starts," said Lovelady, who added the artists would be arriving between 2 and 3 a.m. Friday, Aug. 31, after playing elsewhere Thursday night. "We have Eric Church, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line — three of the biggest tourist acts in the world. And Morgan Evans has the No. 1 song ('Kiss Somebody') in the nation on country radio right now."

In addition to the three headliners, who go on at 10:15 p.m. Friday through Sunday nights, nearly 20 other acts will perform on the main stage beginning at 2:30 p.m. each day. Gates open at 2 p.m. daily (unless you have an early entry pass), leaving visitors and locals plenty of time to enjoy the beach's other attractions.

Florida George Line — whose platinum hits include "H.O.L.Y.," "May We All (featuring Tim McGraw), and "God, Your Mama, And Me" — headlines Friday night, followed by Eric Church on Saturday and Thomas Rhett on Sunday.

Church, was scheduled to perform at the 2016 Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam, which was canceled because of a hurricane threat.

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Church, "officially the highest paid on the roster," is a three-time Country Music Association and six-time Academy of Country Music Award winner. His hit "Springsteen" was certified Double Platinum. Rhett, who scored his first No. 1 hit five years ago with "It Goes Like This," recently released his third album, "Life Changes."

While musicians have special requests, Lovelady said, nothing is too out of the ordinary.

"All have their unique individual needs, such as vegetarian, and backstage services," Lovelady said. "We're expecting 22,000 to 23,000 people per day, but it could be 25,0000; it depends on the weather. The last 3,000 or 4,000 people wait on a pretty weekend."

But it's Florida, so they have a plan.

"There's a protocol we establish," Lovelady explained. "If lightning is within five miles of the property, we have to evacuate. ... But rain doesn't hurt. If we don't have lightning and high winds, we're great."

One year, he said, they had to get indoors for nearly an hour, but then it was game on again.

Mud brought by rain is less of an issue this year, because of the upgrades the "the city (of Panama City Beach) and TDC made with crushed rock for service trucks and buses making deliveries," said Lovelady, who added the city also invested in power upgrades.

A two-story pavilion has been added for sponsors to hang out in during Gulf Coast Jam, and the Jim Beam Vanilla Military Appreciation Tent is returning.

"We added more big screen TVs since the SEC starts football season this weekend. This year, we have 26 big screen TVs scheduled for different ones — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State," Lovelady said. "Vendors will be everything from fair food to arts and crafts, and we will have bars everywhere and all the normal stuff. Over 300 different vendors with everything from food to scarves, trinkets and boiled peanuts — you name it."

But other than a few tweaks and changing talent, Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam continues its recipe for success, and relies on feedback from festival-goers' surveys.

"The biggest thing about Gulf Coast Jam is 80 percent of our population is females, ages 38 to 44 with a household income of $100,000. They are calm and in a very festive mindset. It's a great caliber of consumer, a great crowd and they come stay five to six days on the beach," Lovelady said. "We have one group of 13 or 14 from Atlanta who comes every year and sits in the same section; it's become a neighborhood. As a promoter that's what we want to build, a sense of community. In all the years, there's been less than a handful of arrests. It's a whole different ballgame."

All VIP tickets have been sold out. Three-day general admission tickets and a limited number of military tickets are available. Prices on general admission will increase from $189 to $229 at the gate, but military tickets will remain at $119. No single tickets are being sold.

All tickets include a free shuttle service to and from Frank Brown Park beginning at 1 p.m. daily. Tickets can be exchanged for wristbands and parking passes also can be purchased at Dave & Buster's in Pier Park till 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31.

"It's our sixth year to do it, and I'm just humbled by so much support from the TDC, county and mayor's office. I'm thankful for the city's welcome and support; it's seriously from the heart, even to the local police department," Lovlady said. "We go way out of our way to make our consumer feel safe."

Not only is there a noticeable police presence at the festivals, but also undercover police, Lovelady added.

"We want your 11-year-old to come," Lovelady said. "We want you to bring your grandmother."

Though he considers Nashville "home," Lovelady has a condo in Panama City Beach where he spends half of the year and has chosen to present his events — Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam and SandJam.

For this weekend's schedule updates, download the Gulf Coast Jam mobile app and like the Facebook page (Facebook.com/GulfCoastJam/). On Thursday, Gulf Coast Jam shared a story from TheBoot.com on the Facebook page announcing Lauren Alaina had to cancel Friday's performance at Gulf Coast Jam because of a family medical emergency. Kyle Mitchell will step in for her.

When: 2 p.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday, Aug. 31 through Sept. 2

Where: Frank Brown Park, 16200 Panama City Beach Parkway, Panama City Beach

Friday lineup: Florida Georgia Line headlines; Georgia Thunderbolts, Raleigh Keegan, Drake White, Chase Rice, Justin Moore, Kyle Mitchell 

Saturday lineup: Eric Church headlines; Morgan Evans, A Thousand Horses, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Rodney Atkins, Cam, Chris Janson

Sunday lineup: Thomas Rhett headlines; Pepsi Southern Original Winner, Tyler Rich, Joe Diffie, Montgomery Gentry, Brett Young, Dustin Lynch

Details: GulfCoastJam.com

Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam