Ventnor will feature several music bands Aug. 17, and some ninjas for good measure — all timed to go on between the aerial performaces during this year’s Atlantic City Airshow.
“The jets use the (Ventnor) Pier as a turnaround point,” Mayor Mike Bagnell said. “It gets kind of slow in between flights, so we figured we’d give people something to do. And rock ’n’ roll music just goes well with jets.”
Scheduled to perform near the pier are the bands John Higbee & The Boys, Outer Reef Surf Ensemble, Big Whiskey and Bad Year, the city announced. A martial arts “ninja” demonstration is also billed.
The city will fund the day’s entertainment, Bagnell said, but two anonymous sponsors will pick up much of the cost for three of the four bands. The other band is volunteering its time, along with clowns and face-painters, and vendors will sell food. Bagnell was unsure of the cost of the event.
The city is in talks to allow parking at St. James Church on Atlantic Avenue and other private lots, Bagnell added, and he hopes to provide jitney transportation to the pier.
One tradition carried over from past years is that no beach badges will be required the day of the air show — though the event is on a Friday this year, not a Wednesday.
“One of my main goals is to try and get Ventnor back on the map,” Bagnell said. “To make Ventnor a destination rather than an afterthought. “For years, people would drive through Ventnor just to get from Atlantic City to Margate, and I want to change that.”
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If you go
Ventnor’s free show during the Atlantic City Airshow is scheduled to kick off at noon Aug. 17 with John Higbee & The Boys, followed by a “ninja martial arts fitness demonstration.”
Other performances (all times approximate):
1 p.m.: Outer Reef Surf Ensemble
2:10 p.m.: Big Whiskey
5 p.m.: Bad Year
The John T. Goudy Memorial Rescue Races are scheduled to begin after the airshow ends. The event falls on the same day as the airshow for the first time.
