A flamboyance of Jake Owen fans flocked to Vero Beach for the country music star’s 13th annual Flamingo Weekend benefiting the Jake Owen Foundation, which has raised some $4 million to help to fund local youth organizations and charities as well as the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis for children battling cancer and other illnesses.
Owen continues to return annually to his hometown, bringing well-known musicians with him, for weekends that are chock full of fun. Owen shared that the foundation has supported more than 30 beneficiaries since 2010, projecting that they raised “well over $1 million this year, just this weekend.”
There was something for everyone during the four-day event, including a Welcome Party and Golf Classic at Quail Valley Golf Club, Comedy Jam at Riverside Theatre, Candy Cane 3K at American Icon Brewery, Songwriter Splash at the Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel, the concert headlining Owen and Darius Rucker at the Corporate Air hangar, and a Fishing Classic with its Awards Ceremony at Riverside Café.
The Comedy Jam, featuring Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots, was a new addition, with attendees laughing their way through the evening to help others, and were rewarded for their chuckles when Owen and Rucker joined Bones on the stage.
Owen commented that he’d had an incredible journey since leaving Vero Beach to pursue his dream of performing in Nashville.
“I wouldn’t be on this stage without you guys. I feel really fortunate to be from Vero Beach, Florida,” said Owen. “Without the community coming together, this would never happen.
So, thank you all for 13 years of helping us do this.”
During the Saturday night concert, a video highlighted several of the nonprofits that have benefited from the funds raised through the events. Additionally, Phil Barnes, Youth Guidance Mentoring Academy executive director, stepped onto the stage to give a firsthand account of what that support has meant to their programs.
“We help young people, children, teenagers and juveniles break the cycle of poverty. And the way we do that is through mentoring programs,” Barnes explained, reiterating his appreciation for the support of the Jake Owen Foundation.
Owen and Rucker were joined on the stage by professional golfer John Daly, Daves Highway, and Gary Roland and the Landsharks Band, much to the audience’s delight.
The sold-out crowd was treated to an incredible lineup of fan favorites, with plenty of audience participation. Among them were Owen’s “Down to the Honkytonk” and Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel.” And it wouldn’t be a Florida concert without a nod to the late Jimmy Buffett, who performed at the charity concert here with Owen in 2019.
“I feel like the reason this whole thing started is because I was raised in this community,” said Owen to the concert crowd. “There are so many incredible people here who have taught me the morals and values of doing good. My mom and dad are a big part of that.”
To his younger fans at the Fishing Awards Ceremony at Riverside Café, the final event of the weekend, Owen said, “I hope as you guys grow up that you make it a priority for yourself to do the best you can and do the best for this town. You don’t realize it now, but when you get to be my age, you’ll realize that this is the greatest place in the world to be from.”
For more information, visit JakeOwenFoundation.org.
