The National Shrimp Festival will be held in Gulf Shores, Alabama, October 7-10, in spite of the mess from the BP-Halliburton oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, organizers confirm.

Celebrating its 39th year, the festival has historically attracted about 300,000 people who come to view fine arts and crafts from more than 200 artists, partake of Gulf seafood, and take in the continuous musical entertainment on the beach.

Chances are the turnout will be down significantly this year due to the oil-stained beaches and polluted air over the Gulf. But it should be fun anyway.

Silverock Cove, a residential development on Smith Lake, is hosting “Dock on the Rock,” a day at Smith Lake featuring a number of lake-themed activities on Saturday, May 22 from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. The event is open to the public and there will be live music all day long.

Activities will highlight the range of recreational opportunities on the lake as well as a shrimp boil courtesy of Birmingham’s Little Savannah restaurant.

“We are excited to welcome everyone down for a great day at the lake,” says Carter Hughes, developer of Silverock Cove.

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Glynn Wilson

by Glynn Wilson

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Shaul Zislin, organizer of the first The Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival, watched the final sun set on the final day, relieved the rain stopped in time to resume the show at about 4 p.m. In addition to canceling acts due to the rain, they had to clear the beach earlier in the day due to a tornado warning.

“Look, everyone’s smiling,” the restaurateur and real estate developer said after the party resumed. “The response from everyone has been absolutely tremendous.”

Daily paid attendance topped 15,000 during each of the Gulf-front festival’s first two days. And while that’s short of the 35,000 people Gulf Shores permitted for the three-day event, he said he wasn’t worried.

Zislin, who decided last week to donate all ticket sale profits to conservation and restoration causes, decided to open the final night up to anyone or free, after the rain shut things down.

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Glynn Wilson

The Big Picture
by Glynn Wilson

GULF SHORES, Ala. — The sun has popped out of the clouds here at the beach across from the most famous party going on in the world right now at The Hangout Fest.

Most of the day’s acts were canceled due to a stormfront tracking in from the southwest. The storm passed directly through BP’s shifting oil slick, counteracting the prevailing southeastern breeze that has been coming in here at 15-20 mph the past few days. You know, the thing that has kept BP and Halliburton’s growing mess from making landfall on the sugar-white sandy beaches here, marring the festival, the environment and the economy.

Due to the change in the wind’s direction, that big blob of a mess now filled with chemicals as well as crude is once again turning this way. The tide will push it here too, unless Mother Nature intervenes once again in a way the meteorologists and weathermen on TV can’t predict, or even the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

As I sat here this morning in the kitchen of this beach house across the street from The Hangout listening to the rain, waiting on the oil to get here, I couldn’t help but think of another Sunday a little more than five years ago when I first went independent on the Web Press.

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An Amateur Video Gives A Taste

OK, that’s it. I’m a confirmed Grace Potter fan. Check her out online at GracePotter.com

Groovin’ With her Band The Nocturnals

Glynn Wilson

[Click on the image for a photo essay]

by Glynn Wilson

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, a Vermont-based band that gained national attention in 2007 with the album “This Is Somewhere,” rocked the crowd of about 15,000 Saturday with their blend of funky blues, soul and rock from the sixties and early ’70s at the first Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival on the public beach.

Potter was part of four musicians and environmental activists who spoke to reporters midafternoon as part of the environmental bent the festival has taken on since the Gulf oil spill. Joining her were Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes; Erin Brockovich, who built a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 1993 that resulted in a $333 million settlement to victims of the utility’s pollution; and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, with the Waterkeeper Alliance organization.

“I was blown away,” Potter said after her set about the festival, going forward in spite of a massive, looming oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico just out of sight of the beach.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I got on stage and I said, ‘My God, it’s Coachella on the beach.’”

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Photo Credit

Leading environmental activists band together at The Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival May 14-16 in Gulf Shores, Alabama, to raise awareness for the inhabitants and habitats affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf Coast.

The Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival has announced that environmental activists Erin Brockovich, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, David Whiteside, and Sierra Club Board President Allison Chin will participate in on-stage announcements, public panel discussion and press conferences about BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster and the Waterkeeper Alliance and it’s affiliated organizations along the Gulf Coast and in Alabama.

On-stage announcements from some of the nation’s top environmental leaders will take place throughout the weekend. The press conferences at the festival will occur on Saturday, May 15 at 3 p.m. and the public panel discussion on Sunday, May 16 at 2:30 p.m.

Additionally, various local Waterkeeper organizations will host an outreach table on the festival grounds, which will contain info about the Waterkeepers and will be managed by staff members and volunteers.

As previously announced, all profits from The Hangout will be donated to Gulf Coast restoration and relief efforts.

Many musicians who will be performing at The Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival have starred in Riverkeeper promotional videos that were produced by David Whiteside of Alabama, Founder of Black Warrior Riverkeeper and Tennessee Riverkeeper and former MTV News correspondent. Musicians including Questlove from The Roots, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ozomatli, Phish, and The Flaming Lips (cancelled), have appeared in public service announcement videos for Riverkeeper organizations in Alabama.

These videos will be shown on the stage video screens in between band performances. The complete list of Riverkeeper videos related to Hangout Fest can be seen here.

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GULF SHORES, Ala. – The Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival has officially announced that environmental activists Erin Brockovich, Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy and Sierra Club Board President Allison Chin will participate in public panel discussion and press conferences at the festival on Saturday, May 15 at 3 p.m. and Sunday, May 16 at 2:30 p.m.

Venerable New Orleans performers The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will appear at the Hangout. Huka Entertainment, producer of the Hangout, and Rehage Entertainment, producer of Gulf Aid and Voodoo Experience, have tapped New York City-based television network Fuse TV to film the band’s experiences traveling across Louisiana and Alabama for the “Concerts for the Coast” documentary project. The tour will arrive at the Hangout on Friday, May 14 where The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will join Hangout headliners Zac Brown Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station feat. Jerry Douglas and The Black Crowes.

As previously announced, the Hangout will be donating all profits to Gulf Coast restoration and relief efforts.

Hangout Beach Music and Arts Festival – Friday, May 14 – Sunday, May 16

An Old Timey Band from Asheville, North Carolina

Woody Pines just self-released its second full-length LP called “Counting Alligators.” More information on the band can be found at: MySpace.com/WoodyPines.

On April 17, 2010, the town of Waverly, Alabama hosted the Tenth Annual Old 280 Boogie, a free music and arts festival. In 2001, U.S. Highway 280 was re-routed around and out of Waverly, thus restoring peace and quiet to the town. This event celebrates that.

This year’s event was emceed by Auburn living legend, “Wildman” Steve Bronson. You can listen to Wilman Steve’s Internet radio station at Wildman Steve Radio.

To see our original photos from the event, hit this Facebook link.