The first-ever Bash on the Bay at Put-In-Bay Airport will feature Toby Keith as their headline entertainment. The Country Music festival will also present LOCASH, Waterloo Revival, Cory Farley Band and Brent Lowry & The Drifters before Keith at the event on Thursday, August 31.
The performance is a part of Keith’s Interstates and Tailgates Tour.
The bring-your-own-seating event is expected to inject between $4 million and $5 million in economic development for Ottawa County, event organizer Tim Niese said.
Niese who owns hotels on South Bass Island, said the Islander Inn, Bayshore Resort and Grand Islander Hotel are the only hotels that will have travel and ticket packages available for the event.
“It’s not just about the island,” Niese said. “We have limited hotels, so this will impact hotels and tourism in Port Clinton and Sandusky.”
Niese said between 15 and 20 vendors will be lined up at the airport, and additional hours for ferry service from the Jet Express and Miller Ferry will be added the day of the event.
Security will be expanded for the bash, and anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the concert from outside the airport will find it difficult as fencing will block off views of the stage.
Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 19 at etix.com with only 12,000 available for purchase.
“We had to clear a lot of hurdles to get this concert,” Niese said. “We had to have the airport shut down for a day, and having it the same time as the road races made sense.”