BLC grants Oceans Calling Fest new promoters license

By Hunter Hine Staff Writer

(July 28, 2023) The Worcester County Board of License Commissioners voted unanimously to grant the Oceans Calling music festival a promoter’s license at the board’s Wednesday meeting.

Representatives from C3 Presents, the company promoting the festival, and Ocean City officials requested permission for beer, wine and liquor sales inside the festival grounds from noon to 10:30 p.m. on the nights of the festival.

The Oceans Calling festival grounds will span the beach and Boardwalk from the inlet to N. Division Street, and runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

Ocean City attorney Mark Cropper, who represented the city and event’s promoters, said the festival was already licensed by the board under an entertainment facilitator’s license since last year. The purpose of the hearing on Wednesday was to expand the license to include the Boardwalk and adjoining businesses, he said.

The “Promoters License” is a new authorization that passed in the General Assembly this year for the explicit purpose of permitting Ocean City’s for-profit entertainment events.

Plans for the festival last year did not include the Boardwalk nor any outside businesses, but the festival was canceled due to a storm.

Cropper explained, and the agenda reflected, that had the board denied the promoters license, then the town of Ocean City would have instead asked to expand the entertainment facility, though it ultimately wasn’t necessary.

Cropper also confirmed that his law office forwarded a $5,000 check to the board to facilitate the license along with its approval.

The commissioners heard from promoters and city officials at a June 21 meeting when they discussed preliminary festival plans. That session was in preparation for the requests submitted at the Wednesday meeting.

At a March meeting between C3 Presents, city officials and Boardwalk operators, many owners of the about 65 businesses who fall inside the festival’s footprint expressed concerns over proposed revenue splits with promoters.

In a new arrangement, these Boardwalk businesses will get to retain all their festival profits, and promoters said in June that businesses now have an overwhelming benefit of being located inside the boundaries.

All the included businesses have consented to the agreement, Cropper said on behalf of city officials in June and repeated on Wednesday.

Of the total number of businesses participating, nine establishments have alcohol licenses, including Harrison’s Harbor Watch, Bull on the Beach and the Purple Moose. Per the agreement between the promoters and businesses with liquor licenses, these bars and restaurants will be subject to the same timeframes as the festival; alcohol sales close at 10:30 p.m., and everything closes at 11 p.m.

Another stipulation states that patrons who buy drinks from these restaurants will not be allowed to bring the drinks outside of the businesses. Likewise, patrons with drinks purchased from festival vendors cannot bring drinks inside the businesses. Promoters will provide security at the doors of the establishments to ensure alcohol is both kept out and contained.

At that June meeting, promoters and city officials also presented their case for including the Boardwalk, citing more safe and efficient crowd flow for the expected 30,000-50,000 attendees per day, said Tim Sweetwood of C3 Presents.

On Wednesday, Sweetwood showed the board the festival’s two entrances on a map, with one on N.

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