• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, June 9, 2016

If ever there was a magazine issue deserving a festival all its own, many American men would doubtless agree that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue qualifies.

Happily for them, this scantily clad dream is now becoming a reality, as SI prepares to host the first-ever Sports Illustrated Music & Fan Festival, scheduled to take place at Coney Island on August 28.

Produced in conjunction with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment and Live Nation, the festival will feature a range of daytime beach and boardwalk activities, including model appearances by the lovely ladies of the Swimsuit Issue, as well as musical performances, interactive experiences, pop-up stores, games, and other attractions.

The day will wrap up with a special evening concert at the Coney Island Boardwalk’s new Ampitheater, a 5,000-seat covered open-air venue, with details still to be announced.

The Music & Fan Festival, SI’s first, builds on the momentum established by less elaborate fan events hosted in previous years in New York City, Miami, and Nashville.

According to Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment CEO Brett Yormark, the SI festival is only the first in a series of planned collaborations between BS&E and Time Inc. brands, suggesting more New York-area events based around big titles are in the works.

To help build buzz, SI is also releasing a new Swimsuit shoot featuring cover models Hailey Clauson, Hannah Ferguson and Erin Heatherton, as well as announcing the winner of the 2016 Rookie of the Year model search winners.

There’s also new virtual reality content available through the SI Swimsuit app — yes, it has its own app. Finally, SI is preparing to debut Swim Unfiltered, a video series giving fans a look at the day-to-day lives of the models.

Separately, Time Inc. announced that Paul Fichtenbaum is stepping down as group editor for Sports Illustrated, a position which covered SI Kids and Golf, as well as the iconic sports mag, effective June 30.

Fichtenbaum is credited with helping reinvent the brand’s digital presence not once but twice. First following the end of its longtime content and promotional partner CNN, and second following a similar deal with Turner Sports.

The publisher expects to announce a replacement in the near future.