Country Thunder festival could bring 10,000 to St. Pete Beach. Where will they park? | Beaches

As the Country Thunder Florida music festival approaches in May, St. Pete Beach is bracing for about 10,000 concertgoers a day.

And since the event was announced, locals have had questions: Where will all these people park? Or eat? Or go to the bathroom?

The Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce hosted a meeting March 17 to share a logistics update. Kerry Mitruska, director of sales and marketing at the TradeWinds Resort, promised the plans included “more porta-potties than I’ve ever seen in person in one place.”

The three-day music festival will be headlined by Zach Top, Gavin Adcock and Kane Brown. It’ll be the largest weekend at St. Pete Beach in recent memory, doubling last year’s Bucs Beach Bash (which brings about 4,500) and topping St. Pete Bike Fest (which draws between 5,000 and 8,000).

St. Pete Beach and surrounding beach communities have still not fully recovered from the 2024 hurricane season. Organizers hope the influx of guests helps further revitalize tourism.

“We really said, let’s do something that’s going to put St. Pete Beach back on the map,” Mitruska said.

When and where will Country Thunder Florida take place?

Country Thunder hosts seven events per year across Canada and the United States. Its Florida stop was previously a camping festival in Kissimmee. Last year, organizers moved the event to Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

Country Thunder Florida will take place this year across the 40-acre property of the TradeWinds, which will offer discounted rooms for festivalgoers.

Music runs from 3-10 p.m. May 8, and from 1-10 p.m. May 9 and 10. Gates will open an hour early, which is also when organizers expect to see an early rush of traffic.

The main stage will be set up on the south end of the TradeWinds property, pointing north and positioned perpendicular to the Gulf. The B stage will host smaller acts during set changes on the main stage.

The venue will be completely fenced in and guests will wear bracelets with identification chips to enter the festival grounds. Country Thunder will provide its own food and beverage vendors within the gates, as well as tents selling merchandise, cowboy hats and other items.

“The fencing, that would not impede anybody from walking the shoreline, not at all‚” Mitruska said. “Nope, the shoreline will be free to walk. There will be sheriff’s (deputies) there, probably just asking people to move along, because we don’t want a crowd to gather there and listen, even if they can’t see it.”

Members of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office will patrol the water, as well as monitor activity by foot and all-terrain vehicle.

Two or three “very large restroom stations” will be positioned throughout the festival grounds, featuring “multiple dozens” of stalls, Mitruska said.

Where will everyone park?

“The messaging will be very loud and clear,” Mitruska said. “If you’re not staying in a hotel or an Airbnb, or you’re not a resident, do not try and park on St Pete Beach.”

While parking will not be available at the festival, Country Thunder is paying for about 10 full-sized motor coach buses to pick up guests from Tropicana Field and bring them to the TradeWinds. There will also be a ride share drop-off and pick-up point near the festival.

What about the environment and wildlife?

St. Pete Beach and Country Thunder have been working with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Mitruska said.

“Fun fact, we actually had to hire a certified bird expert to oversee this process to make sure that everything is done the way that it should be,” he said. “Any idea how much for one week a certified bird person charges? You all may want to go get your certification: $10,000.”

To protect birds, music will be capped at 85 decibels (rock concerts are typically in the 95 to 115 dB range, according to the CDC). Country Thunder has adhered to this sound limit during other tour stops, Mitruska said, adding that “country is generally not as loud as other genres because it doesn’t have that loud bass.”

The city will discuss sound and other logistics at its commission meeting on March 24, said Marc Portugal, communications manager for St. Pete Beach.

“All we can really share at this point is the event is still in the planning phase and we’re still working out how sound will be monitored,” Portugal said. “The physical sound control itself will be through Country Thunder.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife requested no drones or pyrotechnics. The festival is also working with turtle truckers to make sure that the fencing is raised high enough to accommodate any turtles coming ashore at night.

Country Thunder will send a 10-person team to pick up garbage by hand around the festival grounds, as well as half a mile north and half a mile south of the property.

Could other music festivals come to St. Pete Beach?

Will Country Thunder become an annual event? The TradeWinds and festival organizers hope so, depending on the success of this year’s event. Sales have been slow so far, Mitruska said, but “Florida tends to be a very last-minute purchase, and historically, they’ve seen a lot of pickup two to three weeks before the actual event.”

Ticket sales are expected to fall between 8,000 and 12,000 per day. Any more than that and organizers will cap the tickets to make sure there’s room for attendees to move around comfortably.

Organizers were inspired by the success of Tortuga Music Festival, an annual event on the beach in Fort Lauderdale.

“A lot of people travel for that, and the hotels up and down Fort Lauderdale and beyond do extremely well,” Mitruska said. “I’ve gotten inquiries from four or five other organizers as soon as this was announced for various types of festivals and entertainers.”