OCEAN CITY – City officials this week got a better understanding of what the public can expect in the days leading up to the Oceans Calling Festival.
In a work session Tuesday, Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlozzo presented the Mayor and Council with an update on the Oceans Calling Festival, set for Sept. 29-Oct. 1. With attendance expected to reach an estimated 50,000 each day, he said the town was working with the promoter – C3 Presents – to share information on parking, transportation, access and more.
“From our standpoint, I will tell you that they’ve done an exceptional job with the city departments,” Perlozzo said of the promoter. “They’ve addressed pretty much all of our concerns, from police, fire marshal, EMS, etcetera. So we are pretty happy with the way things are moving along.”
During Tuesday’s presentation, Perlozzo said that minor site plan revisions were still being finalized this week. He noted, however, that the main festival footprint – which encompasses the beach, Inlet parking lot, and Boardwalk from North Division Street south – would remain the same.
However, Perlozzo said the public could expect Boardwalk closures in the days leading up to the festival.
“We plan on closing the Boardwalk, that section from North Division south, on the 28th, that evening,” he said. “Then we’d reopen it to the public on Monday, October 2.”
Perlozzo said there will also be road closures from North Division Street to the Boardwalk beginning Sept. 20, although access will remain open until the festival begins. The Boardwalk, he added, will remain open from North Division Street to 27th Street.
“Residents, workers, etcetera, will have access south all the time,” he explained. “North Division Street to the Boardwalk will remain a dropoff and access point for C3 as they cross North Division to get on the beach and build the staging. It will be a major thoroughfare and route that we will have to have staffed.”
Perlozzo added that the Inlet parking lot will also close from Sept. 20 through Oct. 6 to allow for setup and teardown.
“Then we will get ready for Cruisin at that point, which will come in right after that,” he added.
With tens of thousands of concertgoers expected to attend Oceans Calling, Perlozzo said the town was encouraging visitors to plan for alternative transportation arrangements. He encouraged biking, walking and rideshares such as Uber and Lyft, which will have a pickup and dropoff location at the 4th Street parking lot.
“We will have a pickup and dropoff point, and we have been able to get C3 to geofence the site so it will be easily identifiable to the patrons,” he said.
While Boardwalk trams will not be in service, Perlozzo said there will be constant bus service from the West Ocean City Park and Ride to the downtown area, as well as water taxi service from Ocean Pines, West Ocean City and north Ocean City. He added that the town’s transportation department will also be running an express service along Coastal Highway throughout the weekend.
“We do have an express service throughout town that will run from north to south,” he said. “For example, rather than stopping at every block or bus stop, there will be festival buses that will go to express locations along Coastal Highway.”
City Manager Terry McGean stressed that bus service will not be reduced but modified.
“It is all hands on deck for the transportation department,” he said.
“As many buses as we can put out there, we’re putting out there. But by reducing the number of stops means we can get north and south much faster and move people. So you may have to walk a little farther than you normally do, but we will be able to move you much quicker.”
McGean added that the West Ocean City Park and Ride would be operated by a private company.
“Regarding the Park and Ride, what we’ve done is contracted with a private service to provide the shuttle buses to and from the Park and Ride so we can have all our buses on Coastal Highway …,” he said. “What we’ve done is try to maximize all our resources so we can move as many people as possible, as efficiently as possible, during the event.”
Perlozzo also told council members this week that the sellout festival is expected to bring new visitors to Ocean City. He said tickets have been sold in every state and in five international destinations.
“I would say well over 70% of those 50,000 people are not from here or have not been here yet,” he said. “So we find it an exciting opportunity to go out and promote Ocean City as a summer destination, as well as a year-round destination.”
When asked how the town planned to capture repeat visitors, Perlozzo said there were plans to bring the town’s vintage VW van and an information booth to the festival, among other things. Councilman John Gehrig applauded staff for their efforts.
“This is why we do special events,” he said. “It’s a guaranteed introduction of new people to our region, to Ocean City, to our county.”
Officials said additional information, as well as a welcome guide, can be found on the Oceans Calling Festival website, oceanscallingfestival.com.
“I think it’s certainly going to be what we want it to be, and it will be a tremendous draw for Ocean City,” said Mayor Rick Meehan.
