How Ocean City became a music festival destination with the help of a Rockville native
A Rockville musician and a festival producer walk into a bar...
Before Oceans Calling and Country Calling became one of the biggest weekends on the Ocean City Boardwalk, it was a simple idea sparked by two old friends.
The connection started with O.A.R. frontman Marc Roberge and Tim Sweetwood, a festival producer who had worked with the band at his Innings Festival in Phoenix. The two began talking about what it might look like to create a festival of their own.
As the idea took shape, Ocean City emerged as a natural fit. O.A.R. had deep Maryland roots, having formed in Rockville in 1996, while Ocean City had the setting, the Boardwalk and the infrastructure to support a major music weekend. What it didn't have was a large-scale music festival of its own.
The first Oceans Calling was scheduled for September 2022, with Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, The Lumineers, Alanis Morissette, O.A.R. and Cage the Elephant among the acts on the lineup. Then Hurricane Ian got in the way. High winds, tidal flooding and heavy rain forced Ocean City officials to cancel the festival just one day before it was scheduled to begin. After years of planning, Oceans Calling would have to wait another year for its first audience.
The festival finally arrived in 2023, bringing three days of music to the Inlet and Boardwalk. Since then, Oceans Calling has grown into a major annual event while keeping its unusual setting intact. The stages sit along the Ocean City Boardwalk, with restaurants, food vendors and even Jolly Roger at the Pier incorporated into the festival grounds.
That growth also opened the door for another festival. Country Calling, a country-focused counterpart to Oceans Calling, was announced in 2024 and made its debut in 2025. The two festivals now bookend the fall festival calendar in Ocean City, with Oceans Calling in September and Country Calling following a week later in October.
O.A.R. has remained part of the lineup, too. The band's Maryland connection gives the festival a direct link to the place where the original idea began, even as Oceans Calling has expanded well beyond its local roots.
Oceans Calling runs September 25–27, with more than 40 performances across three stages. Dave Matthews Band, Twenty One Pilots and Mumford & Sons headline Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The rest of the lineup spans decades and genres, with Hootie & the Blowfish, O.A.R., Ludacris, Yellowcard, Shaggy and Liz Phair on Friday; Gwen Stefani, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, All Time Low and 311 on Saturday; and Matchbox Twenty, My Morning Jacket, Caamp, The Head and the Heart, Hanson and Jet on Sunday.
Just one week later, Country Calling will take over the Inlet for two days of country music, bringing Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert and Rascal Flatts to the beach on October 2–3. The festival will feature more than 25 artists across three stages, with two on the beach and another on the Boardwalk.
