How SeaWorld San Diego Made One of the Summer’s Most Viral Summer Concert Series

This summer, the music world’s most viral concerts have been Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and SeaWorld San Diego. The amusement park’s 2025 Summer Spectacular series has been a Y2K hip-hop and R&B affair, with acts like Ashanti and Ying Yang Twins performing their classics for all-ages crowds at the venue’s Bayside Amphitheater. Various clips of performances (and twerking attendees) have gone viral on X and TikTok, prompting humorous commentary, such as, “At this point, SeaWorld needs to just revive SummerJam,” and “SeaWorld think they Spring Bling.” The trend may continue, as the nine-week Spectacular series boasts upcoming shows by Trina, Ginuwine, and others. 

The show is the brainchild of SeaWorld San Diego staff, including Tyler Carter, the park’s President, and Jackie Plaza, their VP of marketing. Carter, a theme park veteran of 13 years, has spent the last three and a half years at SeaWorld San Diego, while Plaza has been there for a year and a half. The duo tells Rolling Stone that they ideated this year’s summer series to “reach a broader group” (Plaza says they’re successfully reaching an influx of guests with their marketing and virality). The theme park offers programming year-round, including stunt shows, BMX shows, and their Viva La Musica series, featuring Latin bands. However, the summer spectacular is one of their most popular live music events.

Last year, their Summer Spectacular had a cross-genre selection of acts. Plaza says that they wanted to amplify hip-hop and R&B specifically this year because of its universal appeal. “One of the things we both noticed [last year] was that hip-hop and R&B have this multi-generational feel to them,” she says. “It’s particularly this genre where it’s millennial, it’s throwback…these hits that were the soundtrack of your life. You watch the audience, it’s so different than every other show because it’s almost like when you’re the mom and you’re bringing your kid, they get to experience what you were experiencing back then.” 

Although SeaWorld ideates the lineup, and their booking agency, AEG, reaches out to the acts, the shows are billed as “presented” by San Diego radio station Jam’N 95.7. The station is under iHeartRadio, with which SeaWorld has a partnership that includes promoting the events and having their DJs host them. Plaza says that she’s working with iHeart to help promote the theme park throughout the West Coast. Along with this summer’s hip-hop and R&B vibes, and Viva La Musica, they’re also ideating a rock series. “I think we’ve really hit upon that magic of what a cohesive series looks like,” she says.

Carter and Plaza say that they’re still trying to figure out the theme of next summer’s programming, but they’re intent on highlighting young acts alongside legends. “A lot of these talents that we’re bringing in, they’ve had this huge career, and now some of them are starting to mentor younger talents,” Plaza says. ”We’re your home. Let’s build this nine-week series into something really cool that stands for something great.” 

How involved are both of you in terms of booking acts and entertainers?
Tyler Carter: We partner with AEG, but when it comes to the acts themselves, there’s a group of us across the park that work together. Jackie, myself, some of our marketing teams, and some of our entertainment team come together and ask, “What’s the overarching goal?” This year, we had a goal of a singular genre to try to reach a broader group. We’ve done a variety of things where it’s different styles of acts, trying something different that will draw the most people and get the most reach, and give the most exposure to amazing artists. 

Jackie Plaza: Last year, Tyler and I went to every single show. [That] was my first year here, and I wanted to see every single performer. Last year’s series had a whole mix. It was country, Christian rock, hip-hop, R&B, pop. People are dancing and having fun, and it’s great. We visualized all of it. We were physically there, we talked it through, and then the artists, we meet as a team and go through everything. A lot of the artists have come back several years. Bow Wow and Soulja, that’s their third year. Ginuwine’s going to be second year, I think. Ashanti’s been here twice before. It’s cool because they spend the day at the park, the artists with their families, we get to know them, they hang out with the animals. 

Do you have any memorable stories from hanging out with the artists before their show?
Carter: I have an interesting one. It’s actually with more of the artist’s family. When Baby Bash was here a couple of weeks ago, while he was doing soundcheck, I ended up taking his family on rides for the next two hours. And I ended up riding roller coasters — which, granted, I love coasters, so it’s all good — multiple times. But then our water ride, Shipwreck Rapids, they just wanted to keep going on it. So we’re in this same boat going through again. So I think that’s obviously cool, getting to see the person also, and how much they care for their tribe that they bring with them. 

But then also getting to see their excitement as they interact with our animals is incredible. I mean, you get to see them have personal moments up close with a dolphin, a turtle, a beluga whale, an orca, and there’s this moment of like, they are human. They may be this star, but they’re still having a very natural moment with their family. And I think that’s so cool. 

Plaza: Yeah, I would say the orcas in particular, those are orcas and penguins, for example. Involute is too, but orcas in particular, I have some great memories with, where that’s such a magical, majestic animal. To watch an artist who has a wall up — not to say you’re cold — as a protective measure…we allow you to take the wall down. You go have this animal experience, it’s just you and your family and some of our animal care specialists and Tyler or me or Tracy, and you get to be wowed and feel amazement, like, holy cow, I’m next to an orca. 

Jackie, you spoke about it, but I was wondering from both of you, what’s your relationship with hip-hop? Are you lifelong listeners?
Carter: So I listened to Ginuwine, obviously I listened to Bow Wow and Soulja Boy when he first came out with “Crank Dat.” I would say all of my life, from the beginning, when I think of school dances, proms, it’s always been a part. Then, even being out in the community as an adult, it’s always been a part of what I’ve been able to experience. 

Plaza: Tyler’s from Southern California. I grew up in New York. I mentioned Queens, which is often considered the most diverse place in the entire world. And then I was in LA for 20 years, and I was in Long Island for High School. In these areas, hip-hop and R&B are just part of the staple of your life. There’s music, and they’re all connected to one another. So similar to Tyler, I grew up that way. That’s everything that I listened to. And today I was at the gym and I listened to Hank Williams Jr., Tupac, Kendrick, and ended with Beyonce [Laughs]. Hank Williams Jr. had a lot of blues, so there’s more connection than you think, but that’s just what I’ve always loved. And I think part of it’s the geographic area of where we come from. 

When I went to the website, I saw that the concerts were presented by Jam’N 95. Can you speak to that partnership? Have they been involved in the summer series annually, or is it their first time?
Plaza: We have a wonderful partnership team here. iHeart San Diego was one of our partners last year for the summer concert series. Jam’N is one of their stations. And so we wanted to return with iHeart. They were excited about this lineup. Last year, some of their radio talent would come, so they were really excited about this lineup. Jam’N felt like the natural connection given that it’s hip-hop and R&B, but it’s been two years of iHeart. 

This is a relationship we’re building out longer term. And part of that comes with the marketing strategy of when you have an iHeart and you have a Jam’N you automatically have a great channel to have an artist do press, to connect on social, to have somebody either announce the show, have some DJs…it’s really kind of cool too because it’s grown from just Jam’N down here in San Diego to 92.3 up in LA, they’re coming down to a variety of shows. We’re running spots with them, they’re doing social around it. And then DJ Pup Dawg, who’s a Boston iHeart guy, came out for this live show with Soulja Boy and Bow Wow. Similar to how hip-hop brings everybody together, it’s creating this cool community where it’s Jam’N here, but it’s also now other similar type iHeart stations nationally. 

How collaborative is the booking process between you guys and iHeart?
Carter: We come to them once we have the lineup set, essentially. So we decide what the strategy is, what the artists are, and then from there, Jackie and her team work directly with the groups like iHeart. So our series was already set by the time we went to them.

What is the interplay with SeaWorld National? Is there an approval process or do they just let you handle everything?
Plaza: We brought it to them. It originated here, by enjoying it, seeing it, putting it together, packaging it up, and working collaboratively with them. But it’s a SeaWorld San Diego production. 

What has been some of your favorite feedback that you’ve seen regarding the series so far?
Carter: I’d say the best feedback is being at the concert and seeing the overwhelming joy from the crowd that they’re getting a moment to take a break from reality, to just live in a moment of positivity. 

Plaza: Yeah, the whole place is packed. Each one of these concerts has been at capacity in our stadium. We actually overflowed into what we call the waterfront area. [At] Ying Yang twins, there was a teenage boy who started dancing in the crowd. He was the first one to do it, and the whole crowd was cheering for him. And then last week, there was this little girl who just started dancing, probably like 10 years old. You see a mom and child dance, it’s just so happy. It’s outside, it’s sunny. The artists interact in a different way than they do in a club. They’re stoked to be there. Ying Yang said it was one of their favorite concerts in 25 years. Last year, Ginuwine was singing with a woman who had her birthday. So that’s our favorite part, just watching the crowd reaction. 

What was your reaction when you first heard that clips from the concerts were going viral on Twitter and Instagram?
Carter: Obviously, our goal is to provide an exciting experience for everyone, but it was a bit surprising at first. [Like], “Wow. Little SeaWorld San Diego coming out of nowhere with some cool things.” But it’s been cool to watch and see how many people are now getting more awareness of what the series is, what other concerts they want to see. They want to come back for multiple.

Plaze: The original business goal was to drive attendance, but we wanted some level of it to be something that takes off, particularly in Southern California, to go viral. To have this reaction not only for one week, but for multiple weeks, we feel honored. It’s a neat thing for San Diego, particularly. We are not L.A., we’re not getting all those major concerts. So for us [and] these artists who are so talented and are part of our series to get that play, all of us are happy. 

In what ways do you feel like the series is bringing new demographics to the park?
Carter: I do think our business is cross-generational, multicultural in general. Even if you look at our consumer event lineup in general, between Viva La Musica, Seven Seas is a food festival we host that features food from cultures around the world…I think it’s just continuing to find opportunities to bring everyone into the joy of what we believe our business does. These concerts are another way to do it. There have also been a lot of guests. We have a really large pass member base, and there are so many pass members I’ve seen at these concerts that are just like, “We’re so excited for next week. Thank you for having this.” It brings everything together.

Plaza: Geographically, too, was one of our hopes. The concert series was like, will people drive down from L.A.? Will they come down from Orange County? Will they come from Phoenix? Most of our San Diego traffic comes from Southern California and the West Coast specifically. There’s an Orlando SeaWorld, and there’s one in Texas, where you kind of divide up the country. So we were looking at this as a chance to bring new people in to understand SeaWorld and to see it. It’s really paid off. Sometimes I’m psychotic and go onto our own Instagram backend, and I was resharing some things last week where it’s like, “Come on, L.A., everybody come down.” So that’s been neat to see where geographically, somebody who hadn’t thought of SeaWorld in many years sees this concert lineup or sees a viral video and says, let me give this a try. I want to come down. And because Tyler and I are there every single week, I can recognize some of the same guests coming. 

Who are some dream acts that you’d like to have as a part of the series?
Plaza: Oh my God. How far can we go? Kendrick. Jay-Z. I can go more! [Laughs] Wu-Tang was right down the street. Come on over here! 

Carter: Those are just a few of mine. I could go on and on. Obviously, Jackie named some great ones. I think it’s just continuing to find artists that want to share their love of it with us, is the piece that we really enjoy. 

Going forward, this summer and beyond, do you anticipate the summer series being hip-hop oriented, or are you still mulling what you’ll go with from year to year?
Carter: I think we’re still very early into the series, and we’ve had great success so far. I think once we get through the series, we’ll take a moment just to one, take a moment to breathe, like, “Oh my gosh, we made it through.” But we’re still exploring what next year and the future looks like. Our goal will be to continue to have a cohesive experience that reaches many people. I think it’s just defining what that means in the future years. When I look at this lineup, there’s moments I’m like, “I can’t believe we got this lineup. How did we pull this off?” But I mean, even if you look at our past years, even when it wasn’t solely hip-hop, we have always had hip-hop as an integral part of our concert series. 

Plaza: I have a feeling, too, that by that time we get to the end of the series, we’re going to love it so much and everyone’s going to love it so much that we will come back one way or the other.