Coastal Country Jam Comes to Long Beach
Coastal Country Jam, one of the biggest summer events on the country music calendar, celebrates its sixth year in a big way, Sept. 21 and 22, 2024, at Long Beach’s Marina Green Park. Headlined by the likes of Thomas Rhett and Jason Aldean, the festival not only features more than 20 hours of performances by some of country’s biggest stars, but also a wide-ranging list of things to eat, drink, see, and do, from line dancing and cornhole to a drone show.
Given the stars headlining the festival, it’s easy to understand why Coastal Country Jam is considered one of country music’s biggest annual events–big enough to outgrow its original Huntington Beach home where it debuted in 2016. When organizers went searching for a site to grow into, they looked at where their ticket buyers were coming from. After Huntington Beach, they found that Long Beach residents made up most of their audience. That led to an inquiry into the city itself that eventually led to Marina Green Park.
“We found that we had a lot of fans here already,” said Steve Thacher, President of Activated Events, which is putting on the event. “And Marina Park is fantastic. You’ve got green grass, a widespread area that makes it easy to walk around. It’s centrally located and has lots of accessible parking. And then you have the fact that you have the Queen Mary and the harbor on one side of you and that gorgeous skyline, especially at night, behind. It seems like you’re getting the best of both worlds.”
The first Jam in Long Beach was held in 2023 with performances by Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, and Brooks and Dunn, a late addition to the line-up. Even Shelton’s A-lister spouse Gwen Stefani made an appearance.
This year, once again, there will be many other elements to the beachside festival beyond music. There will be food and games–i.e. a cornhole tournament–art installations, a Ferris wheel, car show, and futuristic drone show at night. Plus dancing. Lots of dancing.
Coastal Country has partnered with Long Beach’s own Cowboy Country Saloon to run what’s being called the Country Club, a huge tent space dedicated to line dancing. And, as Thacher knows, there are a lot of people dedicated to line dancing.
“I can guarantee you that thing is going to be packed from the time we open until when we’re done,” he said. “I know there are some people who probably will spend most of their time inside the tent.”
Other acts on the 2024 line-up include Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Ian Munsick, Parmalee, Priscilla Block, Corey Kent, Redferrin, Kassi Ashton, Greylan James, Tayler Holder with sounds by Luwiss Lux.
