ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — For the first time ever, Country Thunder Florida will be hosted on the beach.
The TradeWinds Resort is preparing for the upcoming music festival on St. Pete Beach.
WATCH: Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce hosts meeting about upcoming Country Thunder Florida
The Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting on Tuesday to help business owners learn more about logistics.
Charlie Justice, President and CEO of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber, said the concert is a great reminder to tourists and locals that the beaches are open.
In 2024, back-to-back hurricanes caused widespread destruction and flooding on St. Pete Beach.
"We still get calls, believe it or not, we still get calls that wonder about it. Honestly, we still have some properties that still haven't come back so it's important for people around the country, but also for our locals to remember the restaurants are open. Please come out and visit them, support our local businesses," said Justice.
"We follow our research very quickly to see what our demand looks like, and demand for the destination is still down 10% over what it was pre-hurricane in 2023," said Kerry Mitruska, Director of Sales and Marketing for TradeWinds Resort.
The music festival will be held on May 8, 9, and 10 at TradeWinds Resort.
"We really feel that this event is going to be able to put St. Pete back on the map. Let people know that the destination is back, it's open. We want them here. We're open for business, and we really hope everybody on the beach benefits from this," said Mitruska.
The artist lineup for the festival includes Kane Brown, Shaboozey, Braxton Keith, Dasha, Jay Webb, Randy Houser, Gavin Adcock, Elizabeth Nichols, Max McNown, Gretchen Wilson, Cole Goodwin, Solon Holt, and Zach Top.
Justice said he hopes festivals like Country Thunder Florida will become annual events.
Nearly 30,000 people are expected to attend over the 3-day period.
"If we have 8,000 to 12,000 people a day hit our beaches that we weren't typically expecting, 30,000 people over three days, that's huge. This is a small community and so all those shops, all those restaurants are going to benefit and it's a nice shot in the arm at the end of the season," said Justice.
For more information on Country Thunder Florida, click here.
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