The Hangout Music Festival (also referred to as Hangout Fest or Hangout) has come and gone again. This unique festival was founded in 2009 and began the first appearance of various performances in tents along the public beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama in 2010. Since then it has been held annually on the third weekend in May. The music varies from rock to hip hop to alternative to jam bands to reggae to electronic dance music.
In 2008 Shaul Mislin opened the Hangout restaurant on East Beach Boulevard in Gulf Shores. In an interview with John Mullen at Gulf Coast Media, he explained that in the beginning he quickly realized that even though the restaurant is family oriented with a variety of games for kids, this was a seasonal area of town for business. Business was good for 12 to 14 weekends a year. Obviously there needed to be a change. And this need was to bring in more “shoulder season” events. The National Shrimp Festival put on each October is a shining example of a “shoulder season” as it approaches its 44th year.
Zislin had tried a couple of other ideas before the city council to no avail when he finally came to them about a music festival. The focus of the event since it is on a public beach is to be safe, secure, drug free (to the extent possible) and enhance the family-friendly destination. In December 2009 the City Council approved the event and also gave him a permit for acts to perform an hour later than what is normally allowed under city noise laws. Zislin put together over 30 notable performing acts to appear.
A month before the first festival was to begin May 14-16, 2010, the Gulf Coast was devastated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The attendance that year was 13,000 to 15,000 people per day. In 2014 the number had risen to 40,000. The final numbers for 2015 are not official yet, but they are calling it a success and are planning for next year.
