RECORD CROWDS SHAG THE DAY AWAY ON THE BEACH AT THE 30TH ANNUAL CAROLINA BEACH MUSIC FESTIVAL

The sun was just rising above the horizon when the staff and volunteers of the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce arrived at the New and Historic Carolina Beach Boardwalk this past Saturday for the 30th Annual Carolina Beach Music Festival. And to their amazement, the line of customers was already forming to be the first on the beach for this annual rite of passage. Over three hours before the gates were scheduled to open, some brave souls had already staked their claim to be the first on the beach and the ‘owners’ of the prime real estate front and center.

The record crowds kept coming and kept coming – at times the line seemed to stretch forever. Everyone finally got on the Beach to hear the smooth Beach sounds of the top three bands in Beach Music today. The morning began with the hottest band in Beach Music today - Gary Lowder and Smokin’ Hot..and they did not disappoint this eager crowd.

Promptly at 1:00, the Band of Oz – the perennial favorites of every Beach Music Festival took the stage. After 90 minutes of shagging bliss, we took our final break to give everyone a chance to catch their collective breath, have a marriage proposal (or two) and give away a sweet Budweiser Cruiser.
Closing out the afternoon was the ever-popular Jim Quick and Coastline. When Jim hit “Mama’s Been Drinking Liquor Again”, the crowd went wild. A little rain came and right on key, Jim sang a song about Rain! Jim wowed the crowd when he wished everyone who was having a birthday a unique rendition of “Happy Birthday Yawl”.

With high tide at 11:00 am and attendance in excess of 4,000, the crowds were the largest we have seen in many years. If you ever doubted if Beach Music was getting dated, this year’s crowd once again proved otherwise. Beach Music is alive and well in Carolina Beach and our crowd this year probably covered four generations of seasoned shaggers down to shagger “want-to-bes”.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors, especially the Town of Carolina Beach, all of our great volunteers and of course all of the Shaggers that braved the crowds and had an absolutely epic historic day for the 30th Annual Carolina Beach Music Festival.

Be sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, June 4th to continue the 4th decade of Music on the Beach – See you there!