Hear Philly: The Shore Thing - Craft Beer, Crabs and Tomatoes Galore
By Andrew Kramer
CAPE MAY, N.J. (CBS) - A long-standing tradition in Cape May is in full swing.
"The City of Cape May annually sponsors -- and this has been for 40 years -- a series of over 40 concerts," explains Mayor of the City of Cape May Dr. Edward Mahaney.
Mahaney says the weekly concerts take place at the Rotary Bandstand in Rotary Park:
"These concerts are by community and professional bands that start at 8 O'clock on weekdays and weekend nights. Most concerts are on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and the music changes from concert to concert, so there's always something for everybody."
The free, evening concerts at Rotary Park run until the weekend after Labor Day. For more go to capemay.com.
Two popular events return the first full week in August.
Susan Krysiak with the Mid Atlantic Center for the Arts says the first one celebrates a longtime Cape May landmark:
"National Lighthouse Day is August 7th and we're going to be hosting a lot of family based activities this year at the base of the Cape May Lighthouse.
One of those activities, she says, includes something called a "pirate invasion."
"Kids can interact with some unsavory characters out there and have fun with pirates. We're going to have pirate-hat making, games, music and there'll be vendors out there as well. It's free and it helps celebrate our 1859 Cape May Lighthouse."
Krysiak adds a few days later, they combine two of people's favorite things to enjoy down the shore into one festival.
"The Craft Beer & Crab Festival is an amazing event."
The event returns for a 3rd year to the Emlen Physick Estate:
"There's food, there's craft beer, there's live music acts all day long and we've had people come rain or shine each time we've done this and we're so looking forward to doing it again this year."
But, she says, that's not all:
"Hardshell crabs, you get them, you sit down with your family, you break them open, you enjoy them. It's a great summer time thing to do. And it's not just for adults. There are activities for children as well."
For more on national lighthouse day and the craft beer and crab festival go to cape may mac dot org.
And when you're done polishing off the crabs, another food festival will be in West Cape May at the end of the month.
"We have a festival the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend every year and we just celebrate the Jersey tomato.
Dianne Flanagan, a coordinator of the Tomato Festival, says the name says it all:
"We have all kinds of tomato products to eat and there's tomato pottery and tomato stained glass and all kinds of funny sayings on tomato T-shirts and entertainment all day and we just have a great time.
For more on the Tomato Festival go to WestCapeMaytoday.com.
And that's The Shore Thing for this month.
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The Shore Thing: Cape May in August
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