BALTIMORE — For Jennifer Dillon and four college friends, Oceans Calling has become an annual reunion — one that started with the festival’s 2022 cancellation because of Hurricane Ian, then survived driving rain two years later.

“We experienced everything from the first year being canceled due to a hurricane to the absolutely crazy experience of Blink-182’s rain show and walking back to 64th Street in 2 feet of water,” Dillon, 38 and a Washington, D.C., resident, told The Baltimore Sun. “The ’90s/2000s lineup always draws us in and gives a nostalgic high school-era vibe.”

Along the way, the group has adopted other traditions, like riding the Trimper’s Haunted House and starting Sunday with brunch and bloody marys.

“This festival is super fun, and we always end up running into friends,” Dillon said.

The nostalgia-heavy gathering is also a Maryland homecoming. Rockville-based O.A.R. helped create Oceans Calling; band members Marc Roberge and Jerry DePizzo are founding festival partners. All Time Low, formed in Towson, is also on the bill this year.

The festival will fill the Ocean City Inlet from Sept. 25-27. Dave Matthews Band, Hootie & the Blowfish, Twenty One Pilots, Gwen Stefani, Mumford & Sons and Matchbox Twenty are among the top-billed performers. Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, 311, Dashboard Confessional, Hanson and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles add to the throwback appeal.

The weekend event will feature more than 40 performances on three stages. Tickets are sold out, though verified resale tickets remain available through the festival website.

“This year’s lineup is perfect for the late-30s-to-mid-50s crowd,” Steve Jamieson of Brunswick, who is attending with about a dozen neighbors, said. “They have nailed the demo.”

Jake Flory, 48, and his wife are flying from Dallas for their first Oceans Calling after previously attending the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, and Shaky Knees in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup, he said, made the trip an easy decision.

“We had been looking forward to seeing a music fest to relive our youth, and when this lineup came out, it was a no-brainer,” Flory said.

Flory is looking forward to seeing bands he remembers from high school and college, including Dave Matthews Band, Third Eye Blind and Violent Femmes.

“Tons of memories from simpler times,” he said.

His nostalgia also extends into the streaming era.

“Mumford & Sons was the first band I ever heard on Spotify,” Flory said.

The concentration of familiar artists makes business sense, according to Chris Anderton, an associate professor of cultural economy at Solent University in Southampton, England. Established acts can offer promoters recognizable names and loyal audiences, often at a lower price than artists currently topping the charts.

“For the promoter, booking a lot of well-known artists of the past helps to drive ticket sales, especially if there is a nostalgic yearning for music from a particular time period,” Anderton said. “It is a way of managing the considerable risks of staging a festival.”

J.R. Lind, a senior writer at the concert-industry publication Pollstar, said the rise of festivals such as Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Coachella made younger Gen Xers and millennials a reliable festival-going bloc.

They are now at an age when many have “established credit and good jobs and maybe some equity, but certainly disposable income to attend a festival,” Lind said.

Bif Roberts, owner of Kaiju Records in Salisbury, also sees a familiar cultural cycle at work.

“I truly believe, when it comes to pop culture, there is a 30-year cycle,” Roberts said. “When we were kids, the ‘classic rock’ was from the ’60s and ’70s, and if you go back 30 years from now, it’s the ’90s.”

The weekend could also revive a less welcome Oceans Calling tradition: rough weather.

National Weather Service forecaster Nancy Moll said Friday could bring sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph, gusts near 40 mph and a 40% chance of rain as a coastal low departs. Saturday should remain breezy, with gusts reaching 30 to 35 mph and a 30% chance of rain. Conditions are expected to improve Sunday.

“There is some uncertainty with how long the coastal low will stick around the area,” Moll said.

Mayor Rick Meehan said tides and wind have slowed the setup, but organizers were making adjustments and the city expected the festival to proceed.

Heavy rain fell during last year’s Saturday performances, including Vampire Weekend’s headlining set.

“If it’s drizzling or raining a little bit, they won’t care,” Meehan said of concertgoers. “They all had their ponchos. They were all out there. They’re concertgoers, so they’re used to this.”

Steve Kozlowski, 38, is returning from Detroit after seeing Blink-182 play through the downpour two years ago. He called it “one of my favorite concert moments of my life.”

Jamieson and his neighbors are equally undeterred.

“We’ve been looking forward to it all year,” Jamieson said. “Leave the kids with friends and family and pretend we are in our 20s again. Rain or shine, it’s going to be a blast.”

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