KC And The Sunshine Band/Businessperson's Plunge: What's Happening Memorial Day Weekend In Ocean City?

OCEAN CITY, NJ — It’s time to unlock the ocean. In a long-standing Ocean City tradition, city officials will turn a ceremonial key to open the ocean for the season at noon on Friday, May 26. That will clear the way for a newer tradition: The march (to the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance”) of fully clothed business persons into the chilly Atlantic Ocean for the first swim of the summer.

The Unlocking of the Ocean and the Business Persons Plunge take place on the beach adjacent to the Music Pier. All are welcome to watch or participate. Call 609-399-6111 for more information.

It’s the kickoff of a weekend’s worth of events celebrating Memorial Day in Ocean City.

The fourth in a series of concerts featuring Ocean City Pops members includes a woodwind quintet performing a concert titled “It’s a Grand Old Flag.” Admission is free to the performance at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 26 at the Ocean City Free Public Library.

Saturday morning, May 27, brings the Memorial Beach Challenge, a spectacle to behold as athletes complete a 2.5-mile obstacle course that covers much of the beach between Fifth Street and 14th Street.

Proceeds from the event benefit The 31 Heroes Project, an organization that specializes in creating programs, financial support systems and future opportunities for service members, veterans and their families.

On-site registration takes place at the Ocean City Music Pier from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on May 26, and 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on May 27. The race begins at 8 a.m. along with a kid run for ages 4 to 12 at about 9:45 a.m. Call 856-905-0583 or visit memorialbeachchallenge.com.

The 35-member Bucks County Singers of Newtown (Bucks County), Pa. will perform a free concert outside the Ocean City Music Pier at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 27. The mixed-voice choral group of men and women will present a program of eclectic choral offerings, including well-known standards, pop, Broadway show tunes, and patriotic pieces, many related to their spring concert theme “What a Wonderful World!”

Sunday, May 28, marks the Ocean City debut of KC and the Sunshine Band. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. on the Ocean City Music Pier (Boardwalk at Moorlyn Terrace). Tickets are still available.

Generations of fans have danced to hit singles including “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “Get Down Tonight,” “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” and “Boogie Shoes.” From four No. 1 hits in one 12-month period in the 1970s to the release of the recent blockbuster film theme “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” KC and the Sunshine Band has had as much fun making music as its fans have listening to it.

The Music Pier will be set up for a dance concert. Tickets are $75 and on sale at oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice, at 609-399-6111 or in-person at the City Hall Welcome Center or the Roy Gillian Welcome Center on the Route 52 causeway. The Music Pier Box Office will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to show time on Sunday.

Ocean City’s Memorial Day Service starts at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park on Wesley Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street on Monday, May 29.

All are encouraged to attend. The keynote speaker will be Luke Anthony Walsh, an Ocean City native and decorated U.S. Army Blackhawk pilot who flew 90 missions in Afghanistan. In the event of inclement weather, the service will move across the street to the Ocean City Tabernacle.