ENTERTAINMENT

Rain a likely guest for Volusia's Memorial Day weekend

From Country 500 to beach hotel bookings, weather could affect weekend events

Jim Abbott
Jim.Abbott@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — A weekend forecast that calls for a 50 to 70 percent chance of rain won't stop the Country 500 music festival, a three-day weekend event now in its third year at Daytona International Speedway.

But the outlook is more bleak for area hoteliers, many already reporting cancellations for the important holiday weekend that marks the traditional start of the summer tourist season.

"Weather is major,” said Bob Davis, president of the Lodging & Hospitality Association of Volusia County, who received reports on Wednesday from his member hotels of “massive cancellations” because of potential rain. “People who come from Ocala, Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando, they all watch the weather. Parents aren’t going to sit in a hotel room for two days with kids if it’s bad weather.”

The National Weather Service on Wednesday put the chances of rain at 50 percent on Friday, 60 percent on Saturday, 70 percent on Sunday and back to 60 percent for Monday, with slightly lower rain chances overnight.

Meanwhile, it's looking more likely that a tropical or sub-tropical depression will form, as a low pressure system near the coast of Belize moves northward into the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center gives the system a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical or subtropical depression over the next five days. The national Weather Prediction Center forecasts an additional three to four inches of rain across Volusia and Flagler counties over the next seven days, with higher amounts in isolated locations.

"Our oceanfront hotel is 50 percent less than last year with cancellations due to weather and we do not anticipate a sellout," said Manoj Bhoola, CEO of Ormond Beach-based Elite Hospitality Inc. The company’s roster of area hotels consists of the Best Western Castillo Del Sol in Ormond Beach; Best Western Plus International Speedway; Hampton Inn by Hilton Daytona Speedway Airport; and the Hilton Garden Inn at Daytona Beach International Airport.

While it's likely that many weekend activities, ranging from barbecues to beach getaways and other gatherings, could fall victim to the rain, the area's biggest event won't be among them, organizers said.

On Wednesday, a roughly 100-member work crew took advantage of a rare sunny afternoon, using forklifts and bucket trucks to hoist spotlights and speakers skyward on the skeletal frame of the Country 500’s main stage, 400,000 pounds of steel that arrived at Daytona International Speedway in 11 tractor-trailer trucks. The show will go on rain or shine, organizers confirmed.

“Just come with a smile on your face and some boots,” said Tague Richardson, site director for New Orleans-based Festival Productions, Inc., the company producing the event with concert industry giant AEG Live. “It’s on, absolutely, rain or shine.”

In the wake of a recent stretch of daily rainstorms, the wet weekend forecast has dumped more bad news on area hoteliers.

“This weekend will not perform as well as last year's holiday weekend,” said Jim Berkley, general manager of the 744-room Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, the area’s largest hotel. “All the rain so far, and the forecast this weekend, has created lots of hesitation in bookings for our market.

“The chance of rain for Saturday, Sunday and Monday is definitely affecting the decision-making of folks who would like to be here,” Berkley said by email. “People are still waiting to see if anything is going to change.”

On the beach, meanwhile, preparations are still being made for a big crowd if the sun does shine, said Capt. Tammy Malphurs of Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue.

“If it’s nice out, we expect very big crowds,” Malphurs said. “Memorial Day is like our opening day on the beach.”

High tides that might curtail beach driving are expected in early morning hours, but otherwise there should be no issues for cars on the sand, Malphurs said. Beach Safety urges motorists arriving beachside on one of the main thoroughfares to head north or south on Atlantic Avenue to find lesser-used beach approaches.

“That will give them easier access and it also will be easier to find a spot on the beach,” she said. It is important for beachgoers to swim in front of a lifeguard tower, she added.

At the Country 500, meanwhile, there is a contingency in case of storms turn dangerous because of lightning, Richardson said. Shelter for fans will be offered beneath the Speedway grandstand, an area ordinarily not used during the festival, he said.

“The stadium has a very strict, in-depth procedure for any kind of lightning event that happens,” Richardson said. “So we’re following their protocol.”

On the main stage, nestled in the grass between Turns 1 and 2 on the Speedway’s NASCAR track, bands will be sheltered from the elements on a stage that’s 80-feet wide, 80-feet high and 80-feet deep, not counting an additional 30 feet of working space on each of the wings.

During the event, each band’s gear will be rolled into place from behind the stage, where it awaits in something resembling a concert assembly line. Afterward, it is rolled off-stage from the wings into waiting tractor-trailer trucks.

For fans, there’s additional parking available this year on the east end of Speedway, as well as an expanded dining tent on the midway that offers shelter and seating to nosh on fare ranging from hot dogs and burgers to yucca fries and quesadillas.

A nearby Tiki lounge also has been improved, Richardson said.

“We’ve focused on that area to make it an inviting place to be, with hammocks, Adirondack chairs and fans,” Richardson said. “The tent should be a fun area to hang out.”

Especially if it rains, a prospect that isn’t just unwelcome to fans, Richardson said.

“If it rains during the festival, it works us to death,” he said. “We work really hard setting everything up, and the event itself is usually our down time, but we don’t have any if it’s raining. We just have to keep working.”

Country 500 at a glance

WHAT: Country 500, three-day country music festival with two dozen acts on two stages including headliners Toby Keith, Chris Stapleton and Dierks Bentley.

WHEN: May 25-27 (gates open at 2 p.m. for VIP and three-day passholders; 3 p.m. for single-day ticketholders).

WHERE: Daytona International Speedway, 1801 W. International Speedway Blvd., Daytona Beach.

COST: $85 advance, $99 at the gate for one-day ticket; $195 advance, $225 at the gate for three-day general admission pass; VIP packages also available.

ONLINE: country500.com

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY

DJ Dirty, 3 p.m., Bluebird Theater

James Barker Band, 4:30 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Lindsay Ell, 4:50 p.m, Bluebird Theater

A Thousand Horses, 5:35 p.m., Country 500 Stage

High Valley, 5:55 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Randy Houser, 7 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Frankie Ballard, 7:20 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Dierks Bentley, 8:45 p.m., Country 500 Stage

SATURDAY

DJ Dirty, 3 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Brandon Ray, 4 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Faren Rachels, 4:20 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Midland, 5:05 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Jimmie Allen, 5:25 p.m., Bluebird Theater

38 Special, 6:15 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Dylan Schneider, 6:30 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Billy Currington, 7:40 p.m., Country 500 Stage

David Nail, 7:50 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Chris Stapleton, 9:10 p.m., Country 500 Stage 

SUNDAY

DJ Dirty, 3 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Runaway June, 4 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Clare Bowen, 4:25 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Michael Ray, 5:05 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Brandy Clark, 5:20 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Tyler Farr, 6:10 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Craig Campbell, 6:25 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Sugarland, 7:30 p.m., Country 500 Stage

Colt Ford, 7:50 p.m., Bluebird Theater

Toby Keith, 9:15 p.m., Country 500 Stage 

Staff writer Dinah Voyles Pulver contributed to this report.