The show will go on at the Pink Shell Beach Resort
Country star Scotty McCreery to headline Island Hopper pool party
The Island Hopper Songwriter Festival will not be held back for long by Hurricane Helene. While Friday’s shows on Fort Myers Beach were canceled, the festival will bounce back on Fort Myers Beach Saturday and Sunday to cap off a weeklong’s worth of country music sounds culminating in the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina Pool Party on Sunday with country music star Scotty McCreery.
Dozens of musicians will be taking the stage at venues across Fort Myers Beach beginning Saturday and Sunday at local restaurants, hotels, eateries and watering holes despite a scare caused by storm surge that Hurricane Helene brought to the island Thursday.
The star of the weekend will be McCreery, who is known for his hits “I Love You This Big,” “This is it,” “Five More Minutes,” “The Trouble With Girls” and “Cab in a Solo.” He won the 10th season of American Idol in 2011.
“We are super excited this year’s because it’s the 10th anniversary,” said Miriam Dotson, communications manager for the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. The bureau puts on the festival in partnership with BMI – which supplies most of the artists, many of whom are from Nashville.
The parade of music for this year’s festival is bulked up on country artists though there is a mix of other genres. Local musician Sheena Brook and the British group Essex County are among the familiar faces returning to the Island Hopper.
While most of the shows will be free across 20 different venues, there will be 10 ticketed events this year.
They include the pool party finale at the Pink Shell with McCreery. “People jumped on tickets pretty early (for the McCreery show),” Dotson said. “That’s a good sign.”
One of the other special ticketed events on Fort Myers Beach will be “Music on the Mound” on Saturday, Sept. 28. The show starts at 2:30 p.m. and will be headlined by Grammy Award winning songwriter Tim James. James is known for writing the Toby Keith chart-topper “My List,” the Bucky Covington Top 10 hit “It’s Good To Be Us”, and the Lost Trailers hit “Holler Back.” His other writing credits include the Trace Adkins single “All I Ask For Anymore,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song of 2009, and the 2010 Billboard song of the year “Love Like Crazy” by Lee Brice.
The event will also help benefit the Mound House, which is on the National Register of Historic Places for the location of a historic home which sits on top of a nearly 2,000-year-old shell mound built by the ancient Calusa tribe.
“I personally love the Mound House,” Dotson said. “It’s one of our hidden gems.”
Dotson said the pool party show at Pink Shell Beach Resort is an attraction for concertgoers who may not be country music fans. “There is some pop crossover,” Dotson said. “You can hang out in the pool. It’s looking great.”
One of the aims of the Island Hopper is to infuse the area’s local hotels, restaurants and other business establishments with new visitors during a slow period in the tourism season.
“The idea is to try and get people out of the area to visit and stay overnight,” Dotson said. “Wake up on the beach and stay on the beach.”
Dotson said September is the slowest month of the year for Lee County tourism.
“This is a big event that we work on year-round,” Dotson said.
The Fort Myers Beach venues that will be offering free shows are Bayside Veterans Park, DiamondHead Beach Resort, Margaritaville Beach Resort, Yucatan Beach Stand Bar & Grill.
The musicians for the Fort Myers Beach swing of dates will include the likes of Kurtis John, known for his hits hit singles “Pictures Of You” and “Stay Beautiful.”
Another highlight of the festival is a performance by Jeffrey Steele with the Gulf Coast Symphony which was rescheduled for Sept. 27 at the Florida Repertory Theatre in downtown Fort Myers. Steele, who fronted the country band Boy Howdy, is a five-time Grammy Award nominee who has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Steele has written hits for LeAnne Rimes, Steve Holy, Steve Robson and Rascal Flatts.
To view the schedule, visit https://www.islandhopperfest.visitfortmyers.com/schedule.