JEKYLL ISLAND — There’s plenty of excuses to cut loose on the dance floor — and in the sand — during the 28th annual Jekyll Island Beach Music Festival, which runs through Saturday.

Some of the best beach music acts have converged on Jekyll Island for the 2011 edition of this long-running shindig, which started Thursday.

Beach music legends the Craig Woolard Band, along with Mark Roberts & Breeze and Southern rock standard-bearers the Swingin’ Medallions (“The Party Band of the South”), headline three days of dance and music fun at the largest beach music festival on the Georgia coast. Other acts include the crowd favorite Second Chance Band from Jesup and up-and-coming group Classic Edition from Jacksonville.

The celebration of everything to do with beach music continues tonight with a “Welcome to the Weekend Party” and Saturday with a complimentary “Beach Blast Concert.” The Swingin’ Medallions and Classic Edition bring the festival to its high-spirited conclusion Saturday night at the lively “Fun Finale Party.”

You can download the full schedule of the festival from the Courier’s website: http://beta.coastalcourier.com/section/7/article/34761.

Don’t know how to shag? Opportune dance lessons, led by the Golden Isles Shag Club, will be available. Plus, new this year will be workshops for the hustle, the dance that defined the 1970s disco era.

Most festival activities unfold at the Jekyll Island Convention Campus, with Saturday’s free beach concert taking place at the new, oceanfront Great Dunes Park.

For more information and to buy tickets, go to www.jekyllisland.com or call 877-4-JEKYLL. Friday and Saturday night concert tickets also are available at participating Flash Food convenience stores and on Jekyll Island’s Facebook page.