Kickoff Jam Canceled + People Are Really Confused

A late-summer country music festival in Panama City Beach, Fla., has been scrapped, and local officials are just as confused as fans. Kickoff Jam was canceled with a message that hardly explains what happened.

Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks and Alabama were set to headline the three-day Kickoff Jam from Aug. 30 to Sept. 1.
TuneIn.com — where Brooks programs a slate of stations including the Big 615 — was the official media partner for the event.
Kickoff Jam was presented by producers of Gulf Coast Jam, a popular three-day festival in PCB in early June.

Why Was Kickoff Jam Canceled?

Officially, Kickoff Jam was canceled because organizers felt the weekend after Memorial Day was a better weekend for a festival. That's when Gulf Coast Jam is held.

The insinuation is that late August is not a great weekend for a country festival in Northern Florida, but press releases had touted selling 70 percent of tier one general admission tickets within minutes of the on sale.

Packages for the festival started at $289. The mayor of Panama City Beach wondered if slow ticket sales were the issue.

“We need the events during the off season, and I don’t know what happened with this event," Mayor Stuart Tettemer told WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach.

Tettemer was also upset that organizers booked a popular park and then canceled, leaving a valuable piece of real estate un-rented for a full weekend. Country fan opinion is not known, as comments have been disabled on all Kickoff Jam social media accounts.

NeedtoBreathe, Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson were direct support for the headliners at Kickoff Jam. Each day featured six or seven performers and the festival was going to be hosted by Storme Warren, a host at the Big 615 on TuneIn.

Refunds will be given, and fans are directed to the official website for more details. Once there, one can only access the same press release sent to social media.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he's written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.

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Filed Under: Alabama, Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks

Categories: Country Music News, Festivals