Panama City Beach FL Hosts Successful Country Music Festival - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert headlined Panama City Beach Florida's first Country Music Festival. Drawing crowds from all over the country, the event successfully encouraged visits to Panama City Beach during the quieter Fall season. As a result, many hotels in Panama City Beach saw an increase in bookings, including the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort.
Panama City Beach, FL (PRWEB) September 30, 2011
Panama City Beach tourism officials report that Some 20,000 people assembled in Frank Brown Park to enjoy the 'Fun Never Sets' Country Music Festival. The 2-day festival was organized to encourage travel to Panama City FL, and provide a boost to hotels, like the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort leading up the quieter fall season. Headline acts included two of country music's most popular names, Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean.
Initially, tickets were only available through official lodging partners, such as the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort, who sold hundreds of tickets as part of room packages for the weekend. "Many guests we spoke to had never visited Panama City Beach before" said Patrick Hazzard, General Manager of the Sandpiper. "We were surprised by the number of people already planning to return."
Musical performances preceded both headline acts, including Justin Moore and Randy Rogers Band for Lambert, and Corey Smith and The Dirt Road Drifters for Aldean. People traveled to Panama City Beach from all over the country to see the concerts, including Colorado's Jason Wickham who remarked, "It was wild and crazy. We were right out by the stage!"
Funding for the concert series came in the form of a $1.3 million BP marketing grant. "All the revenues that were generated are going to go into helping [Panama City Beach Fl] do additional programs and events", said Dan Rowe, President/CEO of the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau.
As expected, the Country Music Fest was a relatively incident-free success. According to Panama City Beach Police Chief Robert Harding, "Our biggest concern was traffic and parking and neither of those were a problem".
"I think everyone who went out to Frank Brown Park had a great time and talking to our lodging partners it accomplished our goal in being able to increase a lot of interest and brought a lot of folks to Panama City Beach in September," according to Rowe.
The concert series comes at a time when Panama City Beach council members are discussing plans to erect an amphitheater at nearby Aaron Bessant Park, allowing more concerts to be held in the future. The $2.6 million proposal is not without its critics, with some local residents citing noise, traffic, trash, and even threats to endangered species as concerns. However, the overall consensus seems to be overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of residents believing the amphitheater will be an asset to Panama City Beach.
The Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort is a family-friendly Panama City Fl Hotel. Known as the "Fun Place" the Sandpiper is committed to value; offering so many activities, amenities and entertainment that guests never have to leave during their vacation.
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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/9/prweb8841686.htm
01 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG-i7YDI-a50hVv0cKduU3MGhttVg&url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/30/prweb8841686.DTL
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