Morgan Wallen‘s Sand in My Boots Festival will not return to Gulf Shores, Ala., in 2026.
After a wildly successful first year, Sand in My Boots Fest has been called off for 2026, with plans to return in 2027.
That news came via a statement from Gulf Shores mayor Robert Craft during a city council meeting on Monday (Dec. 8).
Neither Wallen nor production company AEG Presents has issued a statement yet about the future of Sand in My Boots.
Why Is Morgan Wallen’s Sand in My Boots Festival Canceled for 2026?
The first Sand in My Boots Festival sold out all its tickets, so many fans were surprised to hear the event won’t be returning in 2026.
Mayor Craft offered an explanation, and it’s not what you’d expect.
According to AL.com, Craft stated that organizers submitted their application to renew a franchise agreement too late for the festival to book “the kinds of acts that we required them to have to be successful in 2026.”
Read More: Morgan Wallen Is Launching His Own Music Festival
Essentially, city officials and Gulf Shores business leaders felt that last year’s festival attracted a desirable audience of affluent, respectful fans, and if they can’t repeat the kind of event that draws that crowd, they don’t want to mount a festival at all.
It’s important to note here that Wallen’s Sand in My Boots Festival — stocked with a lineup personally curated by the country star — took the place of Gulf Shores’ long running Hangout Fest.
AL.com reports that that event skewed more toward pop acts and a younger audience.
Jason Kempin, Getty Images for ABA
Wallen’s Sand in My Boots iteration leaned toward country, with some rock and rap acts, and sold more tickets than the Hangout Fest had in years past.
Post Malone, Brooks & Dunn, Diplo and Riley Green were among the performers, along with Wallen himself.
“We will refuse to let them go back to the acts that we’ve had before,” Craft continued. “So they couldn’t do it and so they canceled the 2026 event.”
Will Sand in My Boots Fest Return in 2027?
That’s the plan.
Craft says scrapping the 2026 event gives organizers time to “pursue the type of talent we want on our beaches, to invite the right audience that we want on our beaches, that we proved last time, the last event, that could happen.”
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Wallen’s Sand in My Boots Fest will be a one-off, and that the event (if it happens) will morph into a different billing in 2027.
But Wallen’s press materials have typically called the 2025 Sand in My Boots Fest “inaugural,” and in a social media recap, the singer described the 2025 event as a “pretty good first try” at a festival.
Both suggest that Wallen’s eyeing more Sand in My Boots in the future.
30 Best Morgan Wallen Songs Every Fan Should Know by Heart
We’ve even included a few early favorites from his 2025 project, I’m the Problem.
