Ocean City Today OCTOBER 21, 2022

Attendees of last year’s Sunfest walk through vendor tents set up in the inlet lot. This year’s event was pushed back to Oct. 20-23 and incorporates an array of changes and additions.

This year, free entertainment

Continued from Page 1 will be completely ‘free’ of charge and open air,” he continued. “We have added drone shows and a fireworks display. In addition, we have combined OCtoberfest activities and included Doc Dogs — a special opportunity to see a national dog jumping competition. In addition, there will be the Mayors bike ride, bike swap on Friday and more.”

The festivities also technically kicked off Wednesday with the opening of the Broadway musical “Chicago” at the Performing Arts Center and will close there on Sunday with “Artrageous.”

While the added events and other setup changes are significant, one of the biggest differences about this year’s Sunfest is the date. The officialunofficial end-of-summer hoorah at the Ocean City inlet took place on the second to last weekend in September for decades. The thought was to celebrate summer while it still felt like summer, when the nights were just starting to turn cool but the days were usually still warm enough to stroll along the beach and boards in shorts and t-shirts.

Sunfest first launched in 1975 on Seventh Street with 11 vendors and a simple “end of summer” moniker. In 1977, the growing festival moved to the Trimper’s lot downtown, and in 1978 it officially became “Sunfest.” Three years later, it moved to the inlet, where it is held today, and welcomed 80,000 visitors. By 2019, more than 200,000 people were coming to Sunfest, which had solidified its spot on the city’s calendar on the second to last weekend in September.

In 2020, like nearly every other public gathering, the event took a hit with covid, as officials were forced to cancel it and take a year off. Last year, it took on a new, more expansive layout, and moved to the last week of September.

This year’s move to the end of October was spearheaded by the planned Oceans Calling Festival set for Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in the same area at the inlet. While the festival ended up getting canceled for weather, the plans were See CITY Page 8

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