Country Thunder will move its three-day music festival from St. Pete Beach to Coachman Park in Clearwater, organizers announced April 14, ending a weeks-long standoff over environmental permits and the threat the beach concert posed to nesting sea turtles and shorebirds.
The decision comes after St. Pete Beach City Manager Frances Robustelli directed TradeWinds Island Resort in a March 31 letter to move the festival off the beach, after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recommended in December that the concert be rescheduled or relocated, and after Audubon Florida threatened to cancel its own statewide conference at TradeWinds over the resort’s unauthorized use of the organization’s name.
No environmental permits were ever issued for the St. Pete Beach event — not by the city, not by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, not by FWC. The festival is less than four weeks away.
In a press release, Country Thunder Executive Director Kim Blevins framed the move as a choice, not a concession.
“As we moved forward with planning for the festival, it became clear that Clearwater offered the infrastructure and community partnership needed to bring this event to life the right way,” Blevins said.
The release made no mention of sea turtles, black skimmers, nesting season, the city manager’s directive, the FWC recommendation or the Audubon dispute — all of which drove the relocation.
TradeWinds hotel manager Travis Johnson said in the release that both Country Thunder and the resort “worked closely with the city, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, to address permitting requirements” and that the move “reflects what is best for the overall logistics and long-term success of the event.”
Clearwater City Manager Jennifer Poirrier said in the release that the city has been working around the clock with Country Thunder to prepare the venue. The release said all approvals have been secured, though that claim was not attributed to Poirrier or any government official.
The festival will keep its May 8-10 dates and its headliners: Kane Brown, Zach Top and Shaboozey. Refunds will be available to ticket holders at the original point of purchase. The Florida Orchestra agreed to move its free Symphony by the Sea concert to June 6 to make the park available.
What led to the move
The original plan called for up to 12,000 ticket holders on 40 acres of beachfront at TradeWinds, with setup beginning May 2 — one day after the official start of sea turtle nesting season.
FWC records show the agency recommended against the beach location months ago. On Dec. 23, FWC staff submitted a formal request for additional information to DEP that included a recommendation to reschedule the concert outside of nesting season or move it off the beach entirely. FWC spokesperson Lisa Thompson confirmed the recommendation.
FWC records indicate the agency has permitted only one other large-scale beach event with an incidental take permit — a state authorization that shields organizers from liability if protected wildlife is harmed — and that was before current permitting guidelines were adopted. Thompson said it is not under FWC’s authority to issue this type of permit for marine turtles.
Beth Forys, a seabird researcher and professor at Eckerd College who has studied black skimmers for 32 years, said a colony of 400 to 660 of the state-threatened birds has nested on St. Pete Beach since 2013. The colony represents roughly 6 to 10% of the remaining skimmer population in Florida. As of this week, the birds have begun amassing on St. Pete Beach — a sign that colony formation is underway.
Robustelli’s March 31 letter told TradeWinds to revise its application and relocate the event east of the coastal construction control line. At a March 24 City Commission meeting, Blevins had acknowledged that organizers considered the parking lot side of the resort but chose the beach for logistical convenience. She confirmed the organizer, not the city, made that call.
Marc Portugal, the city’s communications manager, said turtle nesting season had been a topic of conversation between the city and Country Thunder since at least November 2025. Under city code, TradeWinds had until approximately April 24 to resubmit a revised application. If the resort had proceeded without a permit, the city could have issued a stop-work order and imposed fines and penalties.
The Audubon dispute
The festival’s credibility problems extended beyond the permitting fight.
In a public statement, TradeWinds said it had “worked alongside” the Audubon Society on environmental standards and that an on-site education booth would operate “with oversight from the Audubon Society.”
Both Audubon Florida and the St. Petersburg Audubon Society denied those claims. Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, said her only contact with TradeWinds was a phone call months ago in which she warned the resort it would need an incidental take permit and advised that the best option would be to move the event.
“It’s not that we don’t like concerts,” Wraithmell said. “It’s the wrong use in the wrong place. People think the beach is this sterile environment, but it’s a living habitat. This is a bridge too far.”
In a letter to TradeWinds managing director Scott Robbins, Wraithmell said Audubon Florida had contracted with the resort in November 2025 to hold its annual statewide conference there in October 2026. She called the use of the Audubon name in the resort’s statement unauthorized and gave TradeWinds a deadline: relocate Country Thunder off the beach by April 10 or Audubon would cancel its conference.
“This is a difficult decision — with a financial and operational cost to our organization,” Wraithmell wrote. “But ultimately, after exhausting all good faith efforts to resolution, we have no other choice.”
Wraithmell said April 14 that Audubon will keep its October conference at TradeWinds.
“Audubon is glad to see that Country Thunder and TradeWinds listened to us and the people of St. Pete Beach, and did the right thing,” Wraithmell said. She credited the city, FWC and DEP for “withstanding tremendous pressure to issue permits that would have resulted in harm to vulnerable Florida resources.”
What the press release left out
At the March 24 commission meeting, Blevins told commissioners that Country Thunder was not informed about nesting season when TradeWinds helped select the May dates. Portugal said the city had been discussing nesting season with the organizers since November 2025. Blevins has said organizers book talent more than a year in advance, which could place the date selection before those conversations.
The city also confirmed that TradeWinds had noncompliant lighting under its Marine Turtle Protection Ordinance — a finding that contradicted a 2023 determination that no violation existed.
TradeWinds, owned by South Florida-based 1754 Properties, did not respond to questions before publication. Johnson, the hotel manager quoted in the release, was the only resort representative to comment.
Blevins told commissioners in March that tickets were nonrefundable. The press release said refunds will now be available at the original point of purchase.
Country Thunder told commissioners it had tentatively reserved a date for next year, outside the nesting window.
“What we want to do is get through this year,” Blevins said at the March meeting, “and then figure out when we can come back.”
Photos courtesy of the CITY OF CLEARWATER
The Country Thunder music festival announced April 14 that it will now take place at Coachman Park in Clearwater on May 8-10.