Two of Ocean City’s big music fests will return in 2026 — one won’t

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Ocean City has become a hotbed for music festivals, with three big ones rocking the resort town in 2025: Oceans Calling, Country Calling and Boardwalk Rock.

While two out of three are set to return in 2026, here’s more on one that won’t.

Boardwalk Rock to skip 2026 in Ocean City, eyes 2027 return

Boardwalk Rock Festival, a spinoff of sister music festivals Oceans Calling and Country Calling, has announced it will not be returning for a second round in 2026.

Reached by phone, Ocean City Business Development Director Tom Perlozzo said there were a “variety of challenges,” but he was “confident the festival would come back bigger and better in 2027.”

The inaugural Boardwalk Rock Festival faced two major lineup changes ahead of its scheduled showtime of May 17-18, 2025.

Headliner Mötley Crüe was the first to cause ripples in the lineup after frontman Vince Neil underwent a required medical procedure. For this reason, the band was unable to perform at Boardwalk Rock Festival.

Alice in Chains was the intended replacement for Mötley Crüe, until a medical emergency involving drummer Sean Kinney led the band to pull out just one week before the big festival was set to kick off.

Rob Zombie was announced as the final headliner replacement just one day later.

Despite its initial hiccups, Boardwalk Rock Festival fully intends on returning to the resort town in 2027.

When might Oceans Calling, Country Calling return to Ocean City in 2026?

Though no firm dates have been set yet for the return of Oceans Calling and Country Calling in Ocean City, the 2025 festivals came back to back, first Oceans Calling from Sept. 26-28 and then Country Calling from Oct. 3-5.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at [email protected].

Reporting by Olivia Minzola and Keith Demko, Salisbury Daily Times / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.