'She's on fire': Lainey Wilson announced as one of the headliners for 2025 Gulf Coast Jam

PANAMA CITY BEACH − Along with being the first night of the 2024 Gulf Coast Jam, Thursday also brought exciting news for country music enthusiasts.

According to Rendy Lovelady, executive producer of the festival, Lainey Wilson is one of four headliners slated to perform at the 2025 Gulf Coast Jam.

The event is annually held at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach. Spanning Thursday to Sunday of this year, it is scheduled to occur May 29 to June 1, 2025, Gulf Coast Jam's website states.

"It's huge," Lovelady said of the news. "She is the hottest female (artist) that we've had hit country music since probably Carrie Underwood. ... She's on fire, so yeah, it's a huge deal."

Though Wilson was the only headliner for next year that Lovelady would release as of Friday morning, he is confident the 2025 Gulf Coast Jam lineup will excite fans.

Noting he plans to release the event's remaining headliners in stages, Lovelady said he likely will make the next announcement in a couple of weeks.

"Promoting Gulf Coast Jam is a year-round process," he said. "We literally are selling the beach, country music and our food and entertainment year round. The sooner that we can start talking about next year, it just kind of keeps the people engaged."

Thursday not only was when Wilson was announced as an upcoming headliner. It also was the day tickets went on sale for next year's festival.

Tickets to the 2024 Gulf Coast Jam sold out in November 2023. About 25,000 attendees are expected to visit Frank Brown Park for the event between Thursday and Sunday. That is the same amount of people who attended last year's festival, which set the record for having the largest turnout in the event's history.

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The headliners for the 2024 Gulf Coast Jam are Parker McCollum, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson and Morgan Wallen.

Other artists that will take the stage this year include Shane Smith & the Saints, Priscilla Block, Chase Matthew, Corey Kent, Kidd G, Austin Snell, Sadie Bass, John Morgan, Heartland, Peytan Porter, Deana Carter, Shelby Darrall and Chandler Flint.

"As soon as this Gulf Coast Jam is over with, we instantly start promoting next year," Lovelady said. "I can honest (say) next year's lineup will be bigger than this year's lineup headliner-wise."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Lainey Wilson one of four headliners in 2025 Gulf Coast Jam