Country Thunder Florida sells tickets as permits remain unapproved
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The TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach. Photo: TradeWinds Resort
The December announcement sounded like a dream: Music festival Country Thunder Florida would take place in May "on the iconic sugar-white sands of St. Pete Beach" at the TradeWinds Resort, the news release read.
Why it matters: Less than a month out, organizers haven't secured the local and state permits needed to hold the festival on the beach, raising questions about whether it will happen as advertised — or at all.
The latest: The uncertainty led St. Pete Beach city manager Frances Robustelli last week to urge organizers to relocate the event off the beach entirely.
- As of Thursday, organizers hadn't moved to do so, city spokesperson Marc Portugal told Axios.
Meanwhile, the three-day festival has been selling nonrefundable tickets starting at $150 for single-day admission and $300 for full access.
- Organizers are aiming to sell 8,000-10,000 tickets, a top Country Thunder official told the city last month.
- "No refunds. No exceptions," read the ticket terms.
Friction point: The festival's proposed dates of May 8-10 — plus about a week of setup and breakdown time — fall during nesting season for sea turtles and beach birds, including state-threatened black skimmers.
- That timing creates extra regulatory hurdles for organizers and has drawn the ire of concerned residents and environmental groups.
- Among them is Audubon Florida, whose executive director sent the TradeWinds a letter this week threatening to cancel a previously planned conference at the resort if the event goes forward on the beach.
State of play: Required permits from the city, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission remain pending, the agencies confirmed to Axios.
The other side: Through a spokesperson, TradeWinds representatives declined to comment.
- Country Thunder executive director Kim Blevins said she wasn't authorized to speak, referring an Axios reporter to a public relations representative, who did not respond to requests for comment.
Yes, but: Blevins filled in some of the gaps at a City Commission meeting late last month.
- Organizers didn't know about nesting season until after they had booked the performers a year ago, she told commissioners.
- There's no plan B if the permits aren't approved in time, she said, although records show city officials floated the TradeWinds parking lot as an alternate location.
- To address some of the environmental concerns, the festival is partnering with a local sea turtle nonprofit to monitor nesting sites and is capping the sound at 85 decibels. (The average concert hits about 100 decibels.)
The intrigue: Several residents who spoke at the meeting questioned why the festival was allowed to advertise and sell tickets without the required permits, which appeared to violate the city's special event rules.
Flashback: The TradeWinds was concerned about that, too, city emails show.
- With Country Thunder eager to announce the festival, the resort's director of catering and convention services, Mark Boyer, wrote to the city in November asking if it was "reasonable" to obtain a permit by Dec. 1.
- "We are concerned with announcing this prior," Boyer wrote Nov. 18.
Three weeks later, Country Thunder began selling tickets.