With headliners Paul Simon, Foo Fighters and Widespread Panic serving up sweet tunes and lingering leads, you won't need a board to boogie at the beach.
Gulf Shores will transform once again into concertgoers' musical Mecca when some of the top acts in music take the stage at the second annual Hangout Music Festival May 20-22.
If a lineup that also includes The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket, Flaming Lips, The Avett Brothers, Primus, Ween and Matisyahu sounds like your bucket of beer, don't wait too long to get tickets because the sun's setting fast.
"Right now, we sure are anticipating selling out," said festival co-founder Shaul Zislin. "The way that ticket sales are tracking right now, I think that we will definitely be sold out prior to the event."
Zislin said SUPER VIP tickets sold out last weekend, and he expects the VIP ticket packages, which cost $525 plus service charges, to soon follow suit.
If you don't need the VIP extras and just want to catch Old Crow Medicine Show jamming with Keller Williams or the avant-groove jazz of Medeski, Martin & Wood, three-day festival passes are still available for about $190 after fees.
Zislin said he thinks the festival will sell all 35,000 of its tickets as three-day passes prior to the event.
Zislin said finding a parking spot can be difficult, so he strongly recommends prepurchasing a shuttle pass.
Shuttle pricing is $20 for an unlimited pass or $5 per ride.
"The more preorders we can get," Zislin said, "the better we can be prepared to provide an awesome service."
In addition to the two main stages directly on the beach, the festival will feature other stages, including one in a new dance tent, as well as late-night performances inside The Hangout, the restaurant and bar inside festival grounds.
The Hangout will also feature live acts Thursday night for those arriving early.
Besides flip-flops, sunscreen and shades, Zislin said he wants everyone to bring a good vibe.
"We are just reaching out to people to start working on all their good vibes and honing them," Zislin said, "because when they come down, we really hope that this will be special in that regard."
Last year's festival became a beacon for the Gulf Coast, which took place as oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill threatened Alabama's shores.
"We think that there's still a lot of misconception around the country--people not knowing quite what to expect post-oil spill," Zislin said. "This is an opportunity for us to absolutely send 35,000 ambassadors back all over the country relaying the message that it's actually absolutely a viable vacation possibility.
"So I think that it's just as important, maybe even more important this year, for us to do this. We're looking forward to spreading that message."
Zislin said the festival will finalize deals with nonprofits to become contributors for the relief effort.
For more information, visit the festival's website at hangoutmusicfest.com.
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