The “Disciplined” Crowd at Morgan Wallen’s Sand in My Boots Threatens the Existence of Another Music Festival

In May of 2025, Morgan Wallen hosted the inaugural Sand In My Boots Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The festival was a takeover for the annual Hangout Festival, and featured mainstream artists such as Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn, 49 Winchester, Chase Rice, T-Pain, Riley Green, Wiz Khalifa, and several other notable acts. The inaugural festival was a smashing success, and not just because of ticket sales and the decorated musical lineup.

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For the city, Morgan Wallen’s SIMB festival created a benchmark for future festivals, including the 2026 Hangout Festival. Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft celebrated the civil and mature audience that Wallen’s festival brought in, which highly contrasts the usual clientele present at the Hangout Festival.

Voicing his perspective on SIMB, Craft stated in June of 2025, “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,” added Craft, per Al.com

Given the stark juxtaposition between the two festivals’ audiences, Craft and the Gulf Shores city council made it very clear that if the Hangout festival does not reach the behavioral benchmark set by SIMB, it will no longer be hosted in Alabama’s coastal town.

@morganwallen

pretty good first try at this festival thing I’d say

♬ original sound – morganwallen

Morgan Wallen’s Sand in My Boots Is the New Festival Blueprint for Gulf Shores

Recently, the city council reviewed the extension proposal for the 2026 Hangout Festival. Consequently, Blake Phelps, the city’s director of economic development and public affairs, divulged, “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,” per Al.com.

On a similar note, Mayor Craft added, “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 [is], if you can do it right, we can go forward. If you don’t, it’s over.”

Craft and Phillip’s comments certainly don’t guarantee the return of Morgan Wallen’s festival. However, it seems that if the Hangout Festival can’t accomplish what the city expects in 2026, then they will gladly let another festival replace it. Morgan Wallen or any of his partners have not announced anything in regard to the return of SIMB.

Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images