Blast on the Bay brings Nashville sound to Gulf County

The Blast on the Bay Songwriters Festival celebrated record ticket sales for its 12th year of performances last weekend.

The event featured performances by three dozen songwriters at various venues throughout South Gulf County, including songwrites plucked straight from the streets of Nashville who have written songs for big names such as Florida Georgia Line and George Strait.

“As I understand, there have been record ticket sales this year,” said one of the event’s founders, David Warriner, ahead of the event. “So, we’re expecting crowds to be large.”

But despite the increasing crowd sizes, Warriner said the organizers of the festival do a lot to preserve the event’s unique charm.

“We like to keep it small and keep it kind of intimate,” he said. “That’s the one thing that’s unique to our festival compared to the others, which have grown into these behemoths that they can’t really control, and the prices get out of hand.”

“We try to share the love enough with our venues to where everybody’s happy and everybody gets a little piece of the pie.”

As the event drew to a close Sunday evening, audience members already began buzzing with excitement for next year’s sets. 

To keep up with next year’s event and other Blast on the Bay details, visit the festival’s website here.