Hear Philly: The Shore Thing - Mardi Gras AC, Armed Forces Salute and The Largest East Coast Air Show
By Andrew Kramer
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) - A few days after Blake Shelton performs a free concert on the Atlantic City beach, Jeff Guaracino with the Atlantic City Alliance says another big name in the music industry will do the same to kick off August.
"On Sunday, August 3rd is Lady Antebellum. That group is flying in from the west coast for the great opportunity to provide a free beach concert for people living and visiting our great area."
The free concert takes place near the Boardwalk and Arkansas Avenue.
There will be additional free concerts in Atlantic City weekly, throughout the month, replicating one of the most popular celebrations in the country.
"A free concert series in the month of August in Atlantic City which we're calling 'Mardi Gras AC'," explains Carmen Marotta, one of the concert series' coordinators.
Marotta says they'll do what they can to recreate Mardi Gras each week, beginning August 4th:
"We'll be throwing beads like they do at the Mardi Gras, and they'll be dancing and second-lining as well as a lot of the different customs that are brought by the entertainers. It's going to be a combination of performances on the Atlantic City Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza on Monday nights."
Some of the concert events will coincide with the Atlantic City Air Show, which is August 13th this year. But before the planes take flight, the annual Armed Forces Salute marches down the Boardwalk -- an event organizer Pinky Kravitz says serves an important purpose:
"We believe that it was necessary to start paying attention and making people aware of the Armed Forces that are in battle today as well as those who served in the Armed Forces and its proved itself."
Kravitz says many others will participate in the parade:
"We have approximately 100 units of the parade. We have high school bands, we have professional bands, we have a string band, we have four or five different singing groups that will be in the parade as well."
The Armed Forces Salute begins at 6 p.m. August 11th.
And after a practice run August 12th, the Atlantic City Air Show flies back into town the following day, for what Joe Kelly, president of the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, describes as their signature summer event:
"It's a unique show in that it's free. It's also different in that it's over the ocean and the venue really is Brigantine all the way down to Margate. The Air Show has become the largest east coast air show in the country, midweek, so it is the marketplace's major event of the summer."
Kelly says hundreds of thousands will witness the show this year, which features the return of a popular routine:
"With the sequestration last year, there were no military performers at any of the air shows across the country. We're very fortunate to have the Thunderbirds back this year and the Golden Knights."
The Air Show begins at noon.
For more information on all these Atlantic City events go to the DO | AC website. Additional information on the Air Show can be found at the Atlantic City Chamber website.
And that's The Shore Thing for this month.
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The Shore Thing: Atlantic City in August
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