Should the Oceans Calling Festival grounds include a large swath of the Boardwalk? If so, should the festival be able to recoup 15% of Boardwalk business sales in exchange for essentially being a concert vendor.
It’s complicated and there are some hard feelings among small business owners toward Ocean City and the concert promoter based on the proposal. More meetings are needed to work through these matters because there are many layers to the changes proposed this year.
Everybody is excited for this fall’s O-ceans Calling Festival in Ocean City with the hope Mother Nature does not foil
the three-day live music and culture e-vent as it did last year. The lineup was announced last week and is overall comparable to last year’s bookings. Early tick-et sales were robust, confirming a high demand for the music festival – the likes of which Ocean City has never seen before.
It was learned in recent weeks the concert promoter has a different idea of how this event will look this year. Last year the festival was contained to the beach and did not block Boardwalk access. This year the proposal is to fence in the Boardwalk from North Division to South Division streets, prohibiting pub-
lic access to these businesses throughout the weekend of Sept. 29-Oct. 1. In exchange for being part of the festival grounds – which may or may not result in larger sales than usual for the Boardwalk businesses – the concert promoter wants 15% of total sales and for operators to use a different point of sale system to track revenues.
The festival footprint encompassing the Boardwalk and dozens of Boardwalk stores relegates these operators to concert vendors with no access to the public. Considering as many as 50,000 people will be at the festival each day, it should be a positive thing for these business-
es. However, it’s not a certainty and the forced nature of a new point-of-sale system and profit sharing is a clear irritant to businesses who pay considerable taxes and rents to operate.
The comments and concerns shared at last week’s meeting will now be shared with the concert promoter. It would seem logical for some middle ground to be a-chieved. Last year the city said no to fencing in the Boardwalk. Aside from logistical concerns with alcohol and emergency response, it’s unclear why the city is okay with the plan this year.
We think it’s reasonable to not include the Boardwalk in the festival grounds for a first-year event. Considering the magnitude of the event and the clear worries over public transportation after the event, it’s appropriate for the same footprint to be used as was planned last year. After the first year, grander plans and potential changes can then be considered. Allowing for some perspective and experience from going through the event at least once will help Boardwalk businesses, the city and the concert promoter gain the knowledge needed to know if the proposals under review now are beneficial.
