OCDC announcing new fundraiser for winter at Cambria

By Mallory Panuska Managing Editor

(July 28, 2023) Members of the Ocean City Development Corporation are celebrating the holidays early this year with an announcement this weekend of a new winter fundraiser.

At a Christmas in July event, set July 28-30 at the Cambria Hotel on St. Louis Avenue downtown, details will be shared about the development corporation’s Let’s Get Lit Shore Craft Beer & Fun Fest on Dec. 2.

OCDC Executive Director Zach Bankert said the new event, which the development corporation is sponsoring, will also be held at the Cambria and will coincide with the Winterfest of Lights and Ocean City Christmas parade.

“It’s going to be a little sort of indoor beer festival,” Bankert said this week. “We are hoping to partner with bars and restaurants [and] have a wrist band system. People who attend the festival can go and get happy hour discounts as well.”

City tourism officials have floated proposed changes to Winterfest activities for the coming season in an effort to expand the holiday offerings across the resort. They have looked to regional Christmas events such as Schellville in Rehoboth for inspiration.

Bankert said OCDC’s fundraiser will help support the changes and bring people to Ocean City outside of the summer season.

“We’re just really just trying to get people here in December,” he said. “And we’re trying to piggyback and support Winterfest as well as the parade.”

According to a news release, the Christmas in July event this weekend will feature live music from 6-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with appearances from Santa Claus from 9-11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday in the hotel lobby of the Cambria, along with other offerings. Hotel guests and the public are invited to attend.

The Cambira Hotel sits on St. Louis Avenue in downtown Ocean City on the bay. Ocean City Development Corporation officials are holding a Christmas in July event at the hotel July 28-30, where they will announce details of a new fundraiser set for Dec. 2.