Spring Block Festival, Martin Z. Mollusk Day Mark the weekend

One of Ocean City’s premier events – the Spring Block Party – returns to downtown Asbury Avenue on Saturday, May 4 from 9am to 5pm.

But before that, beach lovers will want to check the summer forecast. Ocean City’s hermit crab mascot will seek his shadow in a local version of Groundhog Day on Friday, May 3 at 11 a.m. at Ninth Street beach.

Martin Z. Mollusk has successfully predicted an early summer every year for five decades (sometimes with the creative use of flashlights by his handlers, of course). Everyone is invited to join us as we collectively kick-start the long-awaited arrival of summer.

Special guest host will be meteorologist “Nor’easter” Nick Pittman. Martin Z. Mollusk will instruct Nor’easter Nick, who had the audacity to name himself after a common coastal storm, on proper weather forecasting methods and the absence of bad weather in Ocean City. The Cape Shore Chorus Sweet Adelines and a string band will provide musical accompaniment to the festivities.

The Martin Z. Mollusk Day tradition in Ocean City dates back to 1974, when legendary Ocean City Public Relations Director Mark Soifer created the early season promotion by declaring that if Martin sees his shadow, summer will come a week earlier dawn in Ocean City. Friday’s event will be the 51st time Martin has delivered good news.

On Saturday, more than 350 artisans, food vendors and entertainers will be located a mile from downtown Asbury Avenue between Fifth and 14th Streets for the annual Spring Block Party. The event draws tens of thousands of people to Ocean City for a pre-summer weekend of fun.

Entertainers and bands will perform at various locations along the Avenue between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Just a few of the perennial favorites: the Robert Boney Band (7th Street), Big Daddy (9th Street), Pennsport String Band (13th Street), and Keith Hickman (14th Street).

Pony rides for children are available on the grounds of the Ocean City Tabernacle (at Sixth Street and Asbury Avenue) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors, including Asbury Avenue restaurants, will offer all kinds of food.

On-street parking will be free in all parking lots and lots in downtown Ocean City, including the Transportation Center lot (Ninth Street and Haven Avenue) and in the municipal lots on the 700 and 800 blocks of Central Avenue. For more information about parking, please visit ocnj.us/parking.

The weekend celebration also includes table sales by downtown and Boardwalk merchants with discounted merchandise between Sixth and 14th Streets at the Boardwalk and Asbury Avenue on both Saturday and Sunday.

ART CENTER ORGANIZES A JUNIOR JAZZ BATTLE AND VALERIE VAUGHN SHOW

The Ocean City Arts Center presents an exciting weekend of music with free performances on Friday and Saturday (May 3 and 4) in the Chris Maloney Lecture Hall at the Ocean City Free Public Library (1735 Simpson Avenue).

On Friday at 6:30 PMa Junior Jazz Battle Royal will have The happy coincidences (from Egg Harbor Township High School) and The Deptford Jazz Ensemble of (Deptford secondary school).

The concert follows the tradition of the Battle of the Bands, a 20th century concert piece in which two popular orchestras tried to outdo each other in front of a live audience, such as the first time the Count Basie Orchestra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra came together in 1961.

That historic encounter, later dubbed “The Battle Royal” in jazz circles, has been recreated over the years through live performances by other jazz orchestras and ensembles, including on stage at the 2011 edition of the Jazz à Vienne festival. With this “Junior Jazz Battle Royal,” Ocean City will come alive with the sound of some future jazz stars facing off, not in competition, but in synergy.

The Happy Accidentals performed at the recent Berks Jazz Fest in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Deptford Jazz Ensemble won best jazz band in their division in the 2023 NJ Association for Jazz Education annual competition.

On Saturday at 2 p.mthe Arts Center presents folk music and musical stories from New Jersey troubadour Valerie Vaughn. This songwriter has an impressive career with performances in New Jersey, regionally and at the Kennedy Center. She shared the stage with the legendary Pete Seeger and told musical stories in England.

Her evocative songs earned the Ocean County Commission Special Award and the Pine Barrens Festival Award for preserving “the culture, heritage and natural beauty” of the Pinelands.

A native of Tuckerton, Vaughn is one of five South Jersey recipients of the New Jersey State Council of the Arts’ inaugural New Jersey Heritage Fellowships. This program is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Jazz Battle and Valerie Vaughn shows are both free and open to the public, but reservations are strongly recommended and can be made online at oceancityartscenter.org or by calling 609-399-7628.

MORE SPRING EVENTS IN OCEAN CITY

MAY 11 – Roadster Rally: Roadsters of all makes and models will be on display on the Boardwalk from 6th Street to 14th Street from noon to 5 p.m. For more information or to register your Roadster, visit www.theroadsterrally.com or email [email protected].

MAY 19 – OCNJ Triathlon/Duathlon: Quarter mile swim in the pool, 2M run/16M bike/2M run. Plus a children’s course: 1/8 mile swim, 1 meter run/8 meter bike ride/1 meter run. Pool Swimming 6am to 8am Running/Bike/Run starts at 9am www.ocnj.us/race-events.

MAY 24 – Opening of the ocean and diving of business people: Participants dress in suits, carry briefcases and march into the ocean to the sounds of Pomp and Circumstance to welcome the new season. Afternoon on 9th Street Beach.

MAY 25 – Memorial Beach Challenge for 31 Heroes: The obstacle course challenge is an adventure race on soft sand, followed by a fun kids’ run. Performance on 9th Street Beach. For registration information, visit memorialbeachchallenge.com or call 856-905-0583.

MAY 27 – Memorial Day Service: 11 a.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Park, between 5th and 6th Streets on Wesley Avenue.

MAY 27 – National Remembrance Moment: Americans, wherever they are at 3 p.m Memorial Day, pause for a minute in an act of national unity. The memorial moment will take place on the Boardwalk.