Some of the biggest names in music are headed to Daytona Beach. The American Music Festival announced Friday it’s bringing in acts this summer that include Janet Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera and Rihanna.

All of the artists are coming with the intention of playing outside, too, at the Bandshell on the beach.

The city is so eager to get people to the venue for the shows and experience the beach it’s putting up more than $100,000 just to promote it.

Country music’s entertainer of the year, Carrie Underwood, is going to share the same Daytona Beach stage as R&B star Usher and the current “it” kid in pop music, Justin Bieber. They’ll be part of a series of eight major concert events in Daytona Beach and organizers said the artists’ managers wanted them to play Daytona Beach.

“These people are visionaries. They see something good and, right at the get-go, they want to be a part of it, and so they came to us actually,” said Manuel Bornia, Community Cultural Foundation.

The festival is designed to raise the Daytona Beach image in the minds of residents and visitors. After major concerts in June at the Bandshell, it will expand to shows at the Ocean Center, Peabody Center and Main Street.

Daytona Beach committed $125,000 to promote it. The city has given hundreds of thousands for music events before, with little return, but said the organization is different this time.

“We’ve committed money to beer parties that had a music element involved. This is going to be the highest-quality music entertainment we can have,” city council member Rick Shiver said.

It has already spawned requests for $63,000 from other groups eager to have the city promote their own concert series, money that hasn’t been approved.

Attendees will also be polled and data gathered to determine if the concert events actually work in the way they’re supposed to.

The other performers announced Friday are the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez.

Tickets go on sale May 29, but specific dates for the performances have not been released.

Source: WFTV