Miss Crustacean Pageant, Green Fair, ‘Bronx Tale,’ concerts and more
The summer season is starting to come to a close, but a full slate of special events will help everyone enjoy it to the last minute.
The Miss Crustacean Pageant returns on Wednesday. In an annual tradition, Ocean City celebrates the beauty of hermit crabs with contestants vying for the coveted Cucumber Rind Cup. All families, kids, businesses and organizations are invited to enter their crustacean in the competition on Aug. 14.
The pageant begins at 6 p.m. on the beach at Sixth Street with registration for competitors opening at 5:30 p.m. The pageant promotes responsible ownership of hermit crabs and features them displayed in elaborately themed dioramas. The winner gets to travel a flowery runway to take its reign.
In a gala event immediately following the pageant, Ocean City’s hermit-crab mascots, Martin Z. and Mollie Mollusk, will renew their wedding vows upon their 50th wedding anniversary. The product of the creative and inimitable former Ocean City Public Relations guru Mark Soifer, Martin and Mollie were married in August 1975 with Mayor B. Thomas Waldman officiating and children’s TV personality Captain Noah as official witness.
The vow renewal ceremony will then be followed by the annual Hermit Crab Races with the speediest crustaceans competing for the top prize. Both events are free to watch or join. For more information, call 609-399-6111.
Green Fair returns to Music Pier on Friday
Ocean City will host a Green Fair under the covered loggia of the Ocean City Music Pier from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22. The community-wide event is designed to educate and encourage people of all ages to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. The displays will allow attendees to learn about energy efficiency and incentives, participate in interactive activities, and receive promotional items. The Green Fair is sponsored by the City of Ocean City and the Ocean City Environmental Commission. The event is free to attend, and the Music Pier is located on the Ocean City Boardwalk between Eighth Street and Ninth Street.
Tickets still available for ‘A Bronx Tale’ on Tuesday
The Boardwalk Summer Concert Series at the Ocean City Music Pier continues at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19 with “A Bronx Tale starring Chazz Palminteri.”
In 1988, Palminteri wrote a one-man show about a killing he saw in the Bronx when he was nine years old. This is the original one-man show he wrote that made him an in-demand character actor and served as the basis of the acclaimed movie and Broadway musical.
Tickets are on sale through etix.com and the Ocean City Music Pier Box Office.
Concerts and shows at the Music Pier
The Greater Ocean City Theatre Company’s Middle School Junior Company will perform “The Spongebob Musical Youth Edition” at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Aug. 22 and 23) at the Ocean City Music Pier.
This stunning all-singing, all-dancing, dynamic stage show, tells the story of SpongeBob and his friends coming together to save the fate of their undersea world after they discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy it. Tickets are available at oceancitytheatrecompany.com.
A grand night for singing awaits as the Ocean City Pops performs the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24, at the Music Pier. Maestro Vince Lee will lead this evening from the piano as vocal superstars Aubry Ballaro and Angel Gomez (a recent finalist at the Metropolitan Opera competition) return to the Music Pier stage. For tickets, visit oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, call 609-399-6111 or stop by the Music Pier Box Office.
Mavis Staples and special guest Jeffrey Gaines will team up for a great show as the Boardwalk Summer Concert Series comes to a close at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25. Tickets are on sale through etix.com and the Ocean City Music Pier Box Office.
Wayne Newtown will perform with the Ocean City Pops in a special show on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at the Music Pier. No other name or person is so defining, representative or synonymous with Las Vegas and the entertainment capital of the world than Mr. Las Vegas himself: Wayne Newton. Recognized and revered around the world, Newton is known for his iconic signature song, “Danke Schoen,” in addition to countless other top hit singles including, “Daddy, Don’t You Walk So Fast,” “Red Roses for a Blue Lady,” “At This Moment,” “The Letter,” “Summer Wind” and “Years.” For tickets, visit oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, call 609-399-6111 or stop by the Music Pier Box Office.
More family fun all week
Wednesday (August 13) brings the final Wacky Wednesday of the season with families invited to join the free event at 10:30 a.m. at the Ocean City Music Pier. This week’s theme is cookie sculpting. Use your creativity to shape a giant chocolate chip cookie into your own masterpiece. The popular weekly Farmers Market on the grounds of the Ocean City Tabernacle is open 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Wednesday. The market features the best of fresh produce from local farms in the region, along with a variety of craft vendors. Family Nights on Mondays and Wednesdays include stilt walkers, magicians, favorite characters and more set up at different spots between Eighth Street and 12th Street on the Ocean City Boardwalk.
Thursday (August 14) brings Mummers Night. The event features string bands strutting the Boardwalk between Sixth Street and 14th Street from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday through the summer. Downtown Asbury Avenue will feature entertainment, face-painters, balloon sculptors and more from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through the summer.
