Out on a wooden platform extending over San Diego’s Mission Bay, young women sway from side to side, riding an imaginary wave to the beats. Steps away, a man does the “Crank Dat” dance as a young child bounces on his shoulders in gleeful entrancement. Vendors weave through the packed crowd hawking cans of beer, hard seltzer and jalapeño-tequila and cherry vodka Jell-O shots, served in plastic syringes.
“Take a sip of water now,” Soulja Boy tells the crowd after performing his booty-shaking anthem “Donk.” He still has an hour to go.
Much of the audience looks like clones of the star rapper, dressed in extremely oversized white tees, baggy denim, thick gold chains, tilted snapbacks and white-framed sunglasses with words written across the lenses. As the sun dips below the horizon, a fleet of onlookers on jet skis and boats idle on the water to catch a peek of the vivacious scene.
The concert has all of the energy of a 2000s MTV “Spring Break” or BET Spring Bling special. Except here, parents can bring their kids along for the festivities and check out a penguin exhibit or ride a roller coaster all in the same night.
It’s all part of SeaWorld San Diego’s Summer Spectacular, an annual concert series that just wrapped up at the park’s Bayside Amphitheater. The lineup was packed with beloved hip-hop and R&B throwback artists like Too $hort, Ginuwine, Ashanti, Warren G and E-40. What began as a way to reintroduce locals and entice newcomers to the 62-year-old marine park, which is known for its shows and programming focusing on aquatic life, has turned into a multigenerational phenomenon and one of the season’s most anticipated events.
“The people watching is crazy,” says Bootleg Kev, a hip-hop radio personality who hosted the recent Soulja Boy concert, which was co-headlined by Houston rapper Paul Wall.
He describes the vibe of the event. “It’s in the middle of the water, Shamu is like feet away. There’s a lot of parents in here getting twisted. There’s hella babies.” (It should be noted that Summer Spectacular does not feature killer whales or any live animals.)
Though SeaWorld has hosted the event since 2019, it’s taken years to find the right formula and the concert series has only recently taken off.
“There were certain acts that just filled the house and certain ones that didn’t,” says the park’s president, Tyler Carter, adding that early performances swung drastically from hip-hop to Christian rock entertainers. But after hosting a successful show with rappers and teen sensations Bow Wow and Soulja Boy (who’ve performed at SeaWorld multiple times), Carter and his team wondered, “How do we lean into the nostalgia that Southern California millennials love?” he says. The answer was hip-hop, R&B and pop acts from the late 1990s and early aughts.
Their hypothesis was confirmed when footage of a Ying Yang Twins performance went viral in 2025. Executives had found an unexpected pairing that works: Inviting people to the theme park — a place many associate with childhood and simpler times — to experience the music they grew up listening to.
SeaWorld has faced a number of challenges since the 2010s, many stemming from the intense public criticism over its captive orca breeding program, which the company ended in 2016. SeaWorld’s parent company, United Parks & Resorts, has reported a general decline in attendance, revenue and earnings across its parks, most recently in the 2025 fiscal year. Park officials say the concert series, which also takes place at SeaWorld’s Orlando and San Antonio locations, has helped boost ticket sales and brand awareness.
What helps make the event effective is its lower barrier of entry. While tickets to throwback concerts or festivals can easily cost upward of $100 a ticket, SeaWorld’s shows are included with a regular park ticket (starts at $99.99) or an annual pass. Seating is first come, first served, but guests can purchase a reserved spot to guarantee a prime spot. Given that the shows happen every week throughout the summer, many annual pass holders attend each one.
“It’s lowkey a free concert,” says pass holder Juanita Jones, a San Diego resident who was wearing a custom graphic tee with her and Soulja Boy’s faces imprinted on it. She and her friends get a personalized shirt made for every show.
Ricky Roman grew up going to SeaWorld and now takes his two children to the park on a weekly basis. But on this day, which was also his 29th birthday, he decided to leave his kids at home.
“Usually I just come here for the rides and watching animals, but the concert is time for the parents to have fun,” he says.
Jackson flew in from Washington, D.C., with a group of college friends to celebrate a 40th birthday at the show, after seeing several unfiltered videos from the past shows — most notably a clip of a mother twerking on a bleacher seat with a baby strapped to her chest in a carrier during a Ying Yang Twins performance in June.
“We’re millennials and we’ve been seeing this on TikTok. We were like, ‘It’s starting to look like it’s getting out of hand. Let’s go before this gets out of control,’” she says, laughing.
While some people go solely for the concerts, others come early or stay late to explore the park, which stays open roughly two to three hours after the show. Even the headliners check out the marine life, Carter says.
“When the Ying Yang Twins were here, I was riding rollercoasters with them,” he says. “I ended up taking Baby Bash’s kids around during sound check and we rode Shipwreck Rapids three times in a row and were soaking wet, having a blast.”
While the concerts have been mostly welcomed by locals, outside protests still occasionally find their way to the amphitheater. During Ashanti’s July performance, PETA activists sailed a 49-foot yacht displaying a “SeaWorld Kills” banner in protest of animal welfare at the park and Miami rapper Trina received letters regarding her performance last year.
SeaWorld officials, however, encourage critics to check it out for themselves.
“Our animal care team does an incredible job caring for these animals,” says Carter, noting that the park performs “significant amounts of rescues” per year.
Carter and Jackie Plaza, the park’s vice president of marketing, are already planning for next season’s lineup that will be announced in January. In the meantime, SeaWorld fans can check out its other music programming including the Bayside Bands, Brew & BBQ concerts, which feature performances from Uncle Kracker on Aug. 22 and Skillet on Aug. 29.
As attendees make their way out of the venue, excitement lingers through the air. Groups of friends are still singing the words to their favorite Soulja Boy songs and parents are strapping their antsy toddlers into strollers. A lengthy line begins to form in front of the amphitheater where an orca show will happen.
“That was wild,” one guest says.
A friend agrees. “Now, let’s go see some animals.”
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